


Return to the Ice

by LunaPendragon96



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24811288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaPendragon96/pseuds/LunaPendragon96
Summary: To the world, Victor and Yurio have long become synonymous with figure skating, but what is left when you remove the ice and skates? As the monsters from their pasts are wrenched from their shadows, how will Victor, Yuuri and Yurio handle the upheaval they will bring with them? And what dark mastermind would have the gall to bring such torments into the light? As bonds are tested and loyalties tried, will the answers really be those they seek?
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Yuri Plisetsky, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Otabek Altin & Yuri Plisetsky, Victor Nikiforov & Yuri Plisetsky
Kudos: 31





	1. Broken Dream

**DISCLAIMER: Slight suggestions of domestic abuse and intolerance towards homosexuals but not explicit.**

“He’s no son of mine!”

“Hush, Sergey! You will wake him!”

There was a loud crash of something being hit and a sniffle from the women.

“Don’t order me around, women.” The man growled, causing the woman to whimper again. “No son of mine will flounce in public covered in glitter and sequence!”

“He’s just a boy!” The woman tried to stand up but was roughly pushed to the ground again. She coughed savagely on the impact. “It’s harmless. He meant you no disrespect!”

“Maybe I should go teach him a lesson on how to be a man…”

There was rustling as the woman desperately got to her feet. “Don’t you dare lay a finger on my son!” 

The man tried to push her off but the slender woman’s grip was surpassingly firm. “And what’s a sickly woman like you going to do?”

“Sergey, if you even take a single step towards him, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” Darkly laughed Sergey, “Anya you are sick, without my money you wouldn’t last the year.”

The woman didn’t answer as Sergey continued to laugh darkly as he shrugged off his wife and slowly made for the door.

The young boy behind it gulped, shaking slightly in fear, anticipating what was to come. However the young boy was confused, what had he done wrong this time? He had spoken only when spoken too. He hadn’t even looked his father in the eyes during dinner. He’d simply given him a note his teacher had given him in class about his ice skating.

What had he done? Said? To result in such dread? 

Why did he secretly wish to be anywhere in the world but behind that door?

He watched as the door knob to his room began to move. He closed his eyes in terrified anticipation. 

What could he have done wrong?

Just as his bedroom door swung open and he saw the silhouette of his father against the corridor light, the boy heard an almost feral scream, accompanied by the shattering of a vase. His father looked momentarily stunned by the shower of ceramics that rained over him before he fell into a groaning heap at the door, to reveal Anya’s still panting figure behind him, her arms still outstretched from her attack.

“Come!” His mother yelled as she reached over her still groaning husband and grabbed the boy’s trembling hand.

“Mum, what did I do?” The boy practically weeped.

His mother, through a tear stricken face, spared her son a small smile. 

“You did nothing wrong, Victor.”

The young boy didn’t even spare the man a second glance as he and his mother escaped the home that had imprisoned them for the last 10 years.

* * *

A soft, warm, yet wet, nose caused Victor to open his eyes. The large dark eyes of his pet poodle, Makkachin, filled his vision. His soft, warm fur a comfort as the chill of his dream still surged through him. 

It had been many years since he’d last had that dream. What could have suddenly brought such ratchet memories to the surface?

His eyes scanned the small room he had called his own at the Hot Spring Resort where he was staying. When he had moved here Yuuri had claimed it was a refurbished banquet hall but Victor had always thought he was joking, as even after living there for over a year and a half, his belongings were still packed in their bags due to there not being enough space to put them anywhere else. 

_ Ah yes… it must have been the letter _ . Remembering the previous night. 

The letter was a small floral piece of stationary that lay crumpled on the desk. Written in a flourished cursive it had been the first piece of fan mail he had received since coming to Japan, which was strange because his official fan mail address was still back in Russia. But he had opened it with glee just to find it filled with hate. 

You don’t spend so many years in the spotlight without receiving your fair share of hate, some from scorned rivals, some from fans who were against his preferred gender of partner. You’re not titled the world's most eligible bachelor if some hearts aren’t left broken, unfortunately. This was part of the latter which, despite such intolerant writing, it's unfortunate to say he had become numb to such ramblings, choosing to ignore such words to live the life he wished for. But this one had made him feel particularly uncomfortable for, although the letter was addressed to him, its anger was particularly directed towards him and Yuuri.

“Oh Makkachin!” Sighed Victor into his dog’s coat. “Love is love, when will the world just accept that?”

“Just open the door!” The familiar feline growl of an angsty teenage ice skater brought Victor back to reality.

“N-No we can’t do that!” Protested an older, quieter and even more familiar voice. “He may still be getting dressed!”

“You own an Onsen bath! There’s nothing either one of us hasn’t already seen!”

And over the protests the wooden door was forced open. “Oy Victor! Breakfast…”

But Yurio Plisetsky’s hangry declaration was cut short at the sight of Victor and Makkachin. In half the year since the grand final Yurio had hit a growth spurt and was slowly transitioning into that awkward phase between childhood and manhood, a fact that annoyed the adolescent greatly. To Victor he still looked like the adorable kitten he always had been but his fanbase were eating up every moment of it, even speculating just how handsome Yurio would grow to be, but for a professional ice skater this was a tricky time, with his balance constantly shifting, establishing a championship worthy routine was a feat of its own. But dressed in his usual tiger shirt and sweatpants, and a shocked silent look on his face pushed such problems back to the rink for the time being.

“Victor! What’s wrong?” Yuuri Katsuki ran past the younger Yuri, his large glasses almost falling askew as he knelt beside his fiance.

“W-what’s wrong?” Victor was openly confused. Had they somehow sensed he’d had a bad dream? Was that cause for all this fuss so early in the morning? 

“You’re crying…” Yuuri explained, gently. 

“What?!” Victor raised a surprised hand to his cheek and, true enough, he could feel the remains of tears streaked across his face. Had that happened because of the dream? He silently gave Makkachin a glare, the poodle had one job! He could have licked those tears away and no one would have been the wiser! The dog responded by biting, rather aggressively, at his foot. 

“Must be from the mere thought of what hell Yakov has planned for us today.” Victor laughed, aggressively wiping at the tears he didn’t even know he had shed. Gingerly, and acutely aware that Yurio was watching them, Yuuri raised his hand to grip Victor’s, stopping his motions before he rubbed his cheek raw and instead dried his eyes with the edge of his sleeve more gently. 

“I don’t think that’s it…” Muttered Yuuri, looking into Victor’s eyes. Their colour always mesmerised Yuuri, it was like, somehow, every shade of blue known and a few unknown, had been captured within them but that morning, a shadow had fallen over them, dimming their shean.

Expressionless, Victor raised his other hand to clasp the one Yuuri was still holding his in and for a moment their two rings gleamed in the artificial light. A warm smile spread across Victor’s face, dissipating the shadows that had plagued his eyes only moments before. 

“I’m really fine, Yuuri. And I think we should head to breakfast before Koneko-chan here eats Makkachin.” Victor looked past Yuuri towards Yurio, expecting the youth’s usual outburst at one of his least favourite pet names. But Yurio wasn’t looking at them.

“Koneko-chan!” Victor yoddled, getting to his feet but still holding one of Yuuri’s hands in his own as he did so.

“W-what?” Yurio finally pulled himself out of his thoughts, however still uncharacteristically calm at being called a kitten.

“Has your dad got you worried?” Victor teased, resting a fond hand on the younger boy’s head.

“Don’t call yourself my dad! That’s just creepy!” Yurio yelled, jumping to the side, away from Victor's hand but with a raging blush, which caused the silver haired Russian to laugh loudly.

“Whatever you say, Koneko-chan!” Victor called back, pulling Yuuri out of the room followed by Makkachin. Yurio followed them a few moments later, his hands both firmly pushed into his pockets as his blush failed to recede. 

It felt nice to be close to Victor, even this small degree of physical contact still sent butterflies raging within Yuuri’s stomach. But, no matter what Victor said, or the smile that played across his handsome face, Yuuri could not forget the shadow that had momentarily been there. 

What could have made the great Victor Nikiforov cry?

* * *

“We are already thinking of themes!?” Yuuri gasped as Yakov made the declaration later that morning.

“ _ My _ students will pick their themes.” Corrected Yakov, his face zoomed into the screen. Being coached by Yakov in Russia while Victor and Yurio stayed in Japan had produced rather interesting results with his instructions being transmitted via video call and fine tuned by Lillia who, although retired, decided to join the skaters in Japan. She’d made such a drastic move mainly to make sure her pupil, Yurio, kept to the standards she expected from him, secondly to not have to see her ex husband in person so frequently. 

It was hard to decide which of the two was the worse slave driver. And, although Victor was officially Yuuri’s coach, with Victor also participating in the upcoming competitions, more times than not, Yakov ended up coaching Yuuri as well. Although he openly complained about this, he didn’t do much else to stop it.

Yuuri shot Victor a desperate look, but he was too busy stretching to notice his pupil’s dismay.

“Easy Yakov, I’ve got mine all figured out already.” Reassured him Victor.

“I assume you also have the songs chosen as well?”

“One for sure, and the choreography is coming along nicely.” Victor laughed at Yuuri's disbelieving look. To Yuuri, Victor had always seemed like a genius but he’d never realised he was an  _ efficient _ genius.

“Yurio, please tell me you don’t also have yours…” But Yuuri’s voice trailed off as he saw the absent minded look on the younger boy’s face. He wasn’t even looking at the screen but rather at the reception where Yuuko was helping her girls with some summer homework. But even then, he seemed to be looking past her to a point even further away.

“Plisetsky!” called Lilia sternly, instantly capturing her pupil’s attention.

“What?” He yelled back.

“Where is your head today, Plisetsky?” She commanded, looming near the edge of the rink.

“It's nothing.” He murmured, trying, and failing to keep her glare. Yuuri and Victor shared a concerned look, ever since that morning Yurio had been acting strange, and alot more irritable than usual. “I’ll have the theme by tomorrow. “ He promised and then began to warm up, giving the other two skaters nothing much else to do but follow his lead. 

Training that day was a bit of a mess, to put it lightly. The prodigy, Yurio, was making the rookiest of mistakes and the slightest thing distracted him. He missed every jump and his hands almost touched the ground as often as his skates.

“Enough!” Yelled at the prima ballerina, her voice echoing around the stadium, causing them all to stumble to a stop- Yurio almost crashed into Victor who had to struggle to steady the younger boy. “Look at you!” She yelled, looming over the boys. “You would never believe that two Grand Champions were skating here! The Runner Up is performing better than either of you today!”

Yuuri coughed at her comment, but that’s the nickname the prima ballerina had given him and she was too scary to argue with. 

“But!” Protested Victor, pretty certain he had been doing just fine and was lost as to why he was also being scolded at.

“Go cool your head! A messy mind is a messy performance!” She continued, turning her back to the boys.

“But Lilia!” Yakov protested from the screen but she slammed it shut without a word and left the boys cowering. 

“Yurio...” Began Yuuri, skating to the youth, but glaring, the teengaer skated in the opposite direction leaving Yuuri to wonder, yet again, what was wrong.

“I still don’t understand what I was doing wrong.” Mumbled Victor, puffing out his cheeks like a child. “I didn’t miss a single of my jumps ...” That was true, Victor's skating was as flawless as ever but like Yurio, ever since breakfast he’d seemed strangely distracted.

Yuuri wanted to ask him, again, if everything was okay since this morning but Victor smiled at him cheekily before he could voice his concerns. 

“We may be off today but you, my student, are still missing the quadruple flip in practice.”

“But!” Protested Yuuri, watching Yurio disappear into the changing rooms. 

“C’mon! You’ll never beat me if you keep falling.” Laughed Victor. 

* * *

Yurio sat in the changing room, glad that the other two had decided to continue training rather than join him.

There was a gentle knock on the changing room door.

“Yurio?” A soft, female voice came from behind the door. It was Yuuko, were the triplets following in her stead? “Are you decent?”

“Just leave me alone!” He yelled in response, which the older woman took as an invite to come in.

“This is the man’s changing room!” Yurio protested loudly, but he didn’t move from where he sat on the bench, his back resting against the wall, his long bangs casting a shadow over his face.

“You do remember I am the manager of this ice rink, right?” She tried to joke but was responded only by silence. “What’s wrong, Yurio? You’re acting moodier than usual.”

She gently sat down on the bench beside him, Yurio pulled his knees closer to his chest. Yuuko was the closest thing Yurio would remotely admit to calling a friend here in Japan but, even now, he was reluctant to tell her what was on his mind, so the lady simply began to speak. 

“Was it your mum? Did she call again?” 

Yurio hastily shook his head, not wanting to think about  _ her _ at the moment. 

“Does it have something to do with Lilia or Yakov?”

Again, a quick shake of his head. 

“Yuuri and Victor?”

“Am I not allowed to be in a mood? I’m a hormonal teenager, this is normal.”

Yuuko smiled to herself.  _ Bingo _ .

“So what’s got the moody teenager moodier than usual? You know Victor’s teasings are harmless.”

“It's not that…” Yurio’s voice trailed as he clenched his hand inside his hoodie.

“You don’t need to tell me anything, you know that, but I've learnt having a pair of ears waiting to listen is all anyone really needs at times.”

Yurio bit his lower lip and the two sat in further silence before Yurio presented her with the crushed paper he’d nearly destroyed in his pocket. 

“Victor was strange this morning…” He tried to explain and Yuuko uncrumbled the paper as best she could. “I swiped that off his desk and I think that's the reason why…”

And without further explanation Yuuko began to read. Her face instantly shifted from concern to disgust as she captured the gist of the letter. 

She cursed in Japanese, something Yurio couldn’t understand. “This is the 21st century!” She protested. “How can such intolerante and closed minded people still exist just because a person loves someone from the same gender? I can see why this would make you mad…”

“It's not just the letter.” Yurio had had his fair share of hate mail throughout his career, like Victor, he knew that it came with the territory. “Look who signed it off.”

Yuuko looked back at the offensive letter. It was simply signed off by the initials  _ N.E.K.O _ .

“You’ve lost me now…”

“N.E.K.O- Neko, isn’t that japanese for ‘cat’?”

“Now I’m really confused.”

“Well the cat is what my fans use.”

Yuuko’s eyes widened as she finally realised what was worrying Yurio. “You think one of your fans sent this to Victor?”

“I know I have no control over my fans but what kind of person am I who attracts people like that?” He pointed at the letter with his chin.

“One fan does not define the image you portray.” Yuuko carefully folded the letter, not wanting to look at it any further. How dare anyone write such cruel words about her dear Yuuri?

“But what if there are more?” He began, his voice rising slightly as he looked at her. 

“Then they have not understood you, not as an ice skater nor as a human being.” She answered without hesitation. “You do not represent or condone this hate and you shouldn’t feel guilty over someone's deluded opinions.”

But Yurio was silent mulling over her words. “Your a good kid Yurio.'' If anyone else had called him a kid, that would have resulted in instant outlash, but Yuuko was a rare exception. “Even if this N.E.K.O is a fan of yours they are starkly mistaken if this is the message your dancing sent them. “

Yuuko then smiled as she handed the paper back to Yurio. He raised his head, the gloom that had fallen over him dissipating slowly as he began to understand her words. 

“Although I hate doing this, you have to give this trash back to Victor. I know you took this out of concern but it's  _ his  _ private letters.”

Yurio sighed and made to stand up. “Yeah, yeah.”

And without another word Yurio stalked out of the changing room leaving Yuuko satisfied with her motherly speech.

**Hi! Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and feel free to drop a comment, I always love to hear from you guys :) I'll try and update as soon as I can but, until next time, thanks so much for reading! -LunaPendragon**


	2. Mother Knows Best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: Slight suggestions of intolerance towards homosexuals but not explicit

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve already figured out this year’s theme?” Enquired Yuuri as he skated along the rink’s edge to build up the required speed.

“Less talk, more flipping.” Ordered Victor from a corner, his eyes not leaving Yuuri, however he still answered. “I figured it out quite recently actually.”

_ Do you mean this morning? _ Yuuri wanted to ask but he didn’t pry as he attempted the quadruple flip. He silently cursed as he landed with one arm on the ice to steady himself before returning to his feet. 

“You need more force in your jump.” Victor observed. “Are you not going to ask me what my theme is?”

“I assumed you’d tell me eventually.” Yuuri admitted.

“But it's so cute when you beg.” Sighed Victor, causing Yuuri to blush and slow down in his movements to turn and glare at Victor, who erupted into laughter.

“Life.” Victor said simply, causing Yuuri to stop completely. 

“Life?” 

“Da, becoming your coach has made me think about the course of my life, the highs and the lows. Don’t worry you fall under the highs.” Hastily added Victor, causing Yuuri to roll his eyes. But it got him wondering, what lows could the great Victor Nikiforov have?

“Definitely want to use Flaherty’s ‘Once upon a December’.”

“For the short programme?”

“Yeah, still thinking about the free skate .”

“With a theme like that, you should do the Lion King’s ‘Circle of Life’.” Joked Yuuri.

“Challenge accepted.” Victor quickly agreed, laughing. 

“W-wait what? I was kidding! Shouldn’t you discuss this with Yakov?” Yuuri frantically backpedaled.

“Neh, I decide on my own music, and I like surprising the audience, as you know.” Victor ended his statement with a wink, succeeding in silencing Yuuri once again.

“Oh look! Yurio’s back, maybe he’s feeling better.” Victor waved at Yurio as he entered the observation section around the rink. Obviously, the youth didn’t respond to Victor’s greeting and instead, looking annoyed with something, began to walk around the rink towards them.

Before either skater could speak he pulled a paper out of his pocket and practically shoved it into Victor’s face, who just blinked as a reaction.

“Save the lecture, I know I shouldn't have taken this from your desk. Just take it back.”

“When did you take this?” Gasped Victor, instantly recognising the letter.

“This morning… I was.. Wor- erm- curios.” Yurio practically spat out the last word, he stubbornly avoided looking Victor in the eyes as he said this.

Victor should have been mad, he should have scolded Yurio but he had no energy to tell the boy off for being so obviously worried for him. Yuuri had been worried all morning as well, he’d never realised that his own emotional state could affect these two so much.

“Victor, what is that?” Yuuri asked, looking at the mistreated piece of paper. 

“Did you read this?” Victor enquired.

Yurio nodded his head, finally looking up at Victor. The latter just sighed and handed the note to Yuuri.

“I was hoping neither of you would ever even learn about this letter. Yuuri, I must warn you, it's not the nicest letter you’ll read... And it's not the reason I had those peculiar tears in my eyes this morning.” He hastily added

The group was silent as Yuuri read the letter, his hands trembling as he read further into it.

With still shaking hands, he handed Victor the paper as if it were a stick of dynamite. “I don’t usually receive hate mail.” 

“Part of the job prescription, unfortunately, once you win enough championships and spend a significant amount of time in front of a camera, people think they know you and are entitled to share their opinion of you .” Sighed Victor, hiding the letter from everyone's view in his pocket. “I’m sorry you had to read something like that, Yuuri.”

“Some scorned fan isn’t happy that the two of us are engaged.” Observed Yuuri, trying to hide how shaken he had been by the latter. He knew that not everyone was particularly accepting of homosexuals but his family and friends had always been totally fine with it, how could there be someone, he probably had never even met, who had so much hate towards his very nature? And what did it have to do with his ice skating? “Was this the reason you were so out of it, Yurio?”

Yurio remained silent, not wanting to elaborate his fear of the possibility that a fan of his had sent the letter. The initials may have simply been a coincidence, afterall the note was in english not japanese.

Victor wanted to comfort the two skaters, to hug them and reassure them that this was nothing that anyone should waste a second thought on. But he knew the young Yuri would not appreciate  _ that _ .

“Now guys, lets not…”

“And you weren’t lying? This wasn’t the reason you had tears this morning?”

“You have my word.”

“Nor the reason why you chose ‘life’ as your theme?”

“Like I said, totally different reasons.”

“Good, because it may have given me an idea for mine.”

Victor raised a curious eyebrow at his pupil but Yuuri said nothing.

* * *

Yakov sighed through his screen.

“Are you sure of this, Vitya?”

“I think the audience would love it.”

“But the _Circle of Life_ …”

“It is plausible, Yakov.” Observed Lilia. “But Vitya, your choreography must be astounding to produce something above mediocre.”

“You can count on me.”

“And what about you Yuri?” Lilia commanded, Yuuri almost responded before he realised she was actually addressing Yurio. 

“I haven’t decided yet.” Yurio admitted, tugging at his hoodie in frustration.

“It's impossible that nothing has spoken to you, Yuri.” Declared Lilia. 

Yurio raised his head, trying to look the prima ballerina in the eyes, which was difficult sitting on the benches in the prep rooms. “I will choose a theme and program which will leave the world speechless.”

Lilia nodded her head in approval, accepting the delay for now.

“And what about you, my dear pupil?” Victor eagerly jumped in, he had been pestering Yuuri since yesterday about his theme but the man, instead, had ignored him and put on his headphones and searched through the night for the appropriate songs. 

Yuuri took a deep breath and, feeling a lot more self conscious then he expected and said. “Struggle.”

“Struggle?” Victor tilted his head much like Makkachin usually did when he couldn’t fully understand what was being said to him. 

“Yeah, I just thought well... We’ve all had to struggle to get here, but what is life but a struggle?”

“Isn’t that kind of depressing?” Pointed out Victor, his smile failing. 

“Well life is a struggle, but the prize in the end is usually worth it.” Yuuri smiled shyly, subconsciously looking down at his ring. Victor smiled softly, he had been worried about the negative impact the letter may have had on Yuuri, but he needn’t have it seems.

“Intriguing.” Admitted Yakov. “And have you thought of the set?”

“Yes!” Yuuri jumped, directing his attention back to the older coach. “ Rachmaninov's piano concerto No 2.”

“The Piano concerto for the free skate, I assume?”

Both the Prima Ballerina and the coach nodded their heads approvingly causing a sly smile to spread across Victor’s face. It was hard even for his old teachers to ignore Yuuri’s potential and growth.

“Very well. Vitya,  Japanese  Yuuri, you two may begin working on the choreography.” Stated Yakov

“And Yuri, you will continue to think of your theme...But remember!” Lilia added knowingly. “...However remember, the longer you take, the closer the gap between you and the Runner Up becomes.”

“I am fully aware.” Grumbled Yurio, determination in his eyes.

“But one day won’t kill him, right coach!?” Quickly jumped in Victor, a mischievous smile on his face as he clamped both hands on Yuri's shoulders. “Yurio's got a date tonight!”

“I’ve got a what!?” Blurted out Yurio, as surprised at the news as the coaches.

“He’s right!” Jumped in Yuuri, pounding his fist against his palm in realisation, “The charity dinner is today!” 

“What!?” Yurio was looking between the two men as if they had just sprouted a third arm between them.

“Do you really not remember?” Yuuri hesitantly explained. “All three of us signed the papers for some charity event.”

“For the last month people all over the world have been donating to the World Animals Health Organisation and 3 lucky winners were chosen at random to have dinner with us.” Explained Victor, happily.

“This is bull!” Yurio frantically looked between the coaches. 

“No, it’s part of the contract you signed last month.”

“I don’t remember signing any weird contract like that!”

“Oh sure you did!” But there was a strange tone in Victor’s voice, one Yuuri instantly picked up on.

“Victor…” Yuuri started.

“Well his hand held the pen... though I might have helped with the signing!” Victor sheepishly admitted. “It’s not my fault his food comas are so severe!”

Yurio began mumbling something in Russian which none of the others were comfortable enough to translate. His furious ranting was however interrupted by the shrill ringing of his mobile phone.

Yurio cursed even louder when he read the caller ID, why was  _ she _ calling him now?

He stormed out of the preparation room without a second glance at the group.

“We’re leaving the resort at 7:30! Be ready!” Victor casually called out. 

* * *

“Do you know how long I’ve been calling?” A woman’s voice greeted when Yurio was eventually far enough from the rest to answer.

“Hello Mother, what a pleasant surprise.” His voice was rich in sarcasm as he naturally switched to Russian.

“That tone doesn’t suit one of our status.” His mother sternly responded. 

Yurio took a deep breath and tried counting to 10 to calm himself. He made it to 2 before he asked.

“Is there a reason for this call, Mother?”

“Your grades have been slipping.” She bluntly answered. “You know the deal, we will only fund this hobby of yours provided you make up for the classes you miss and your grades reach your father and mine’s expectations.”

Yurio rolled his eyes at her words even though he knew there was no one to see him. 

“And I have been keeping my side of the bargain.”

“I can’t believe video calls to Japan, with almost 6 hours time difference, are the adequate environment to raise the future CEO of Saturn Corp.”

And there it was, Saturn Corp, it had to slither into every conversation he ever had with his parents. Alexei and Natasha Plisetsky were the owners of an internationally recognised technology company, it was very likely that if a device worked, some piece had been manufactured by them. Growing up, this company had taken up every moment of his parents' time, hence why Yurio lived with his grandfather back in Moscow and now, with his university days drawing ever closer, they were paving the road for Yurio to pick up their mantle, one he had never been interested in taking.

“Mother, I have told both you and father I don’t want to work at Saturn Corp.”

“Ice skating is not a profession, it’s a hobby. You can’t expect it to support you for the rest of your life.” But even as his mother scolded him she began to sound distracted, another phone was ringing in the background, probably about something more interesting then her son.

“Was there a point to this lovely call?” Yurio sighed, giving up on trying to hide his annoyance.

“If your father and I don’t don’t see adequate improvement in your grades by the next teacher's report, we are booking you a one way ticket back here and you have to shelve your skates for good.”

Like usual, Yuri had no say on the matter.

“But you promised! I’ve got another year!” He tried to argue, his parents had all these plans for him, all of which began when he was old enough to go to university. Until then they were happy simply to put him up at his grandfather's and keep him quiet with his skating.

“Now I must take this call.” The ringing on the other side became louder and more insistent. “We will speak again.” 

And Yurio was left with a silent phone to his ear as his mother hung up on him. This had been one of her better conversations, he observed, as he sulked back to the resort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and the story so far. Feel free to drop a comments and I'll try update ASAP :D


	3. Summer Nights

“Oh Yuuri!'' Victor practically skipped across the reception where Yuuri was already waiting. He was in a neat fitting black blazer and a dark blue shirt underneath. His glasses were almost sent flying as Victor giddily hugged him. “You look particularly ravishing tonight my dear katsudon!” He whispered into Yuuri's ear.

“V-victor!” Yuuri was blushing so severely that he put tomatoes to shame, and his mum’s knowing smile at the reception desk didn’t help in the slightest.

Victor broke the embrace, allowing the younger man to catch his breath. Yuuri wanted to complement Victor as well, whatever the man wore, he always looked extremely attractive, and the dark brown pants and bomber jacket he wore that evening were no exception.

“Don’t worry, Koneko-chan, you also look very handsome.” Laughed Victor, turning to look at the teenager who, with dragging feet, had followed him into the reception. For the last hour Victor had wrestled with Yurio to get him to wear something besides his usual t-shirt and sweatpants. For the most part he had succeeded, the t-shirt had been skillfully spruced up by the addition of a cool looking leather jacket and the sweatpants had mysteriously been drenched in dog slobber so he’d had no choice but resort to a cleaner pair of dark jeans.

“Do not call me that!” Yurio loudly protested, the call with his mother had left him sour, and he really didn’t want to go to some dinner, even if it was for charity, with a bunch of random people he probably wouldn’t like. Other than a couple of selfies, Yurio was not the kind to feed his rabid fanbase in such a way. 

“Now Koneko-chan, behave, you don’t want to scare your date away do you?” Victor winked at Yurio who just fumed further.

“It's not a date!” Yurio protested. “And aren’t you two engaged? You certainly shouldn’t be on a date with other people!”

“Oh one wayward night will simply strengthen the impact of our reunion!” Dramatically declared Victor.

“Victor.” Yuuri tried to calm the Russian down, people were beginning to stare. “I think you are blowing this all out of proportion…”

“Now let us depart my comrades!” Victor declared even more loudly, ignoring Yuuri’s comments. “To a night of fine liqueurs and stimulating conversation!”

And, with his hand hooked into Yuuri’s, he marched the other man out, where a car was waiting for them. Dragging his feet, Yurio followed them, mumbling something about underaged drinking.

The restaurant the dinner was taking place at was one of the many sponsors that aided the charity to produce such a prestigious event. Specialising in traditionally japanese food, the chosen winners would have the chance to truly enjoy the flavours of the country they were visiting while also basking in the company of their favourite ice skating stars. It went without saying that they were more looking forward to the latter then the former. 

The winners had arrived before Yuuri’s group and they had been nervously reading through the japanese menu before they abruptly stood up on their arrival. There was a mixture of bows and hand shakes, the winners not sure what was the appropriate form of greeting in such a situation.

Overall a great start to the evening. 

Thankfully the introductions, albeit still awkward, were relatively short. Yuuri had been nice enough to send Yurio a pdf with the pictures of the winners and a little information about each one. Conveniently, Victor had forgotten to send it to him previously. 

The eldest in the group was Mpho Dlamini, in his early thirties, a dark skinned man with startling white teeth from South Africa. He was a cashier and a particular fan of Yuuri’s. Next was a 25 year old speech therapist, Giulia Giordano from Italy. She had long dark brown hair with caramel highlights who kept giggling every time Yuuri and Victor did anything remotely cute. Yurio rolled his eyes, although the document had said she was a particular fan of Victor’s she looked more like a Victuuri fan to Yurio. 

. Yurio had noticed that although the winners were supposedly chosen by lots they had selected a fan of each one of the skaters, and it didn’t particularly surprise him that his fan was a teenage girl, and the youngest from the winners. 

“Nathalia Kane.” The 17 year old introduced herself with a rather shy smile and a handshake Yurio reluctantly accepted.”But everyone calls me Thalia.”

She was also the quietest of the winners, canadian with pale skin and strawberry blond hair pulled back into a messy bun. Her face was lightly made up and she was dressed in a plain black dress. Thankfully, Yurio didn’t see any cat ears headbands in the vicinity, but he eyed her bag suspiciously, she could be hiding them anywhere. Two things in particular however, caught Yurio's attention. First were her eyes, from the picture in the document he hadn’t noticed but she seemed to have heterochromia, one being a light brown, the other a pale blue, the other was the fact that nearly every 5 minutes her phone buzzed forcing her to answer it.

With Victor's help, Yuuri was plunged into a lighthearted conversation with Mpho and Giulia, leaving Yurio to wait as the girl answered yet another message. 

She sighed, finally placing a hand on the phone screen as she directed her attention to Yurio, for someone who had just won a chance to meet a celebrity, she wasn’t paying him much attention.

“I’m sorry.” She began. “I shouldn’t be texting at the table, it's rude.”

“It’s fine.” Yurio shrugged her off, she could spend the whole night on her phone if she liked, the less conversation he had to deal with the better. “Probably want to tell all your friends you’ve finally met us.”

“Actually it's my sister.” Thalia admitted, sheepishly.

“Ah, ice skating fan as well?” Yurio nodded his head in fake interest. Victor would scold him if he didn’t at least pretend to be polite that evening. 

“Not only, this is the longest we’ve ever been apart, we’re twins you see, do everything together. Before yesterday the longest we’d been apart was a bathroom break. Now I’m a whole ocean away and it makes her anxious”

“Not you?” Yurio raised a questioning eyebrow, slightly more interested then he had been moments before, noticing that Thalia was referring to her sister only in that last comment.

“Oh it's actually kind of strange...” She said distractedly as her phone buzzed again with a new message on the screen. Thalia hastily shook her head, looking instantly embarrassed at what she had just said. “I’m sorry! You don't want to listen to my ramblings about my family.”

Yurio shrugged nonchalantly, “Go for it. I’m going to be honest, I'm tired of people always asking me questions, my life’s not that interesting .”

“That’s not true!” Blurted out Thalia, from the look on her face, a lot louder than she intended. She covered her mouth, embarrassed, before continuing in a more formal tone. “A  two-time consecutive Junior World Champion, two-time consecutive Junior Grand Prix Final Champion and a Grand Prix champion’s quite the story.”

“But the only story people care about.” Yurio shrugged. This felt unusual, he’d never spoken to one of his fans like this and he felt the irritation that had plagued him all day fading slightly. “So tell me Thalia, is it really that weird to be away from your sister?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Nadia.” Thalia began, realising Yurio was not in the mood to talk. ”But since we were born we’ve been Nadia and Nathalia, Nadia and Nathalia, I mean our names even sound kind of similar, who does that to twins?”

Yurio laughed at her comment, something both Yuuri and Victor were surprised to hear, but smiled knowingly at each other. 

“That  _ is _ a little annoying.”

“I know right! That’s why I go by Thalia. It's like telling the world we are two different people, not a package deal.”

“Doesn’t it annoy your sister?”

“Oh no! She loves and encourages it. I do miss her, immensely but…” Thalia's voice trailed off slightly as her phone buzzed and she picked it up to answer what Yurio assumed was another text from Nadia.

Thalia sighed as she finally sent her answer.

“I feel bad, but I feel more me without her, you know?”

Strangely, Yurio did know. He may not have a twin but he could fully understand the shackles a family could become.

The phone beeped again. Thalia unlocked the screen and began to read.

“Nope, that’s it.” Yurio sighed, and with as much grace as you’d expect from a professional ice skater he leaned over the table and snatched the phone from Thalia’s hands.

“Hey!” The girl protested, also reaching across the table to snatch it back, but he held it out of her reach.

“One night of no texts will not kill her!”

“But the message has already been marked as read!” Thalia protested, trying to stretch out further, but Yurio had longer arms.

“No more sister messaging tonight.” Yurio said, stuffing the phone into his pocket and out of her sight. “You’ll get it back after dinner.”

Thalia groaned, annoyed and sat back in her seat. It was the laughter from the other end of the table that brought the two teenagers to the embarrassing reality that they weren’t the only ones at the table. Victor was trying, and failing, to hold back his laughter while Yuuri and the other two winners looked very confused.

“What?” Snapped Yurio. 

“Are you two ready to order?” Yuuri cleared his throat, as Victor continued to laugh. Yuuri was sitting near Yurio, so he had heard a portion of the conversation but had he detected an undertone of teasing when he’d stolen the girl’s phone?

“Yes!” Snapped Yurio.

“No!” Admitted Thalia, hastily looking at the menu. Her eyes scanned the menu once, twice, and again.

“You don’t have any idea what any of that stuff is, do you?” Her blank expression told Yurio all he needed to know. 

“Well, if I had my phone!” the girl snapped back, “i could just look up the names, couldn’t I?”

“Koneko-chan, why don’t you help the lady choose?” Victor piped in, trying to clear his throat from the laughter, and wiping tears from his eyes. 

“Koneko-chan?” Thalia asked, she looked at Yuuri, hoping he’d translate.

“Is there anything you can’t eat?” Yurio quickly snapped, not wanting Yuuri to tell her what Victor’s pet name for him meant.

“I can choose my own food!” Thalia protested, bringing the menu closer to her face, stubbornly reading the names she couldn’t understand. 

“Fine.” Yurio, casually put the menu down, and he shifted his seat slightly so he could join the conversation Yuuri and Victor had previously been having with Mpho and Giulia. “But if you are fine with meat, I'd go with the Katsudon.”

“Humph!” was her only response as she stubbornly continued reading.

When the waiter finally came for their orders it was grudgingly that Thalia ordered the Katsudon.

* * *

“Wait, you are Nathalia Kane Osment?” Yuuri spluttered in disbelief.

“Yes.” Coughed out Thalia, almost choking on her mochi as she tried to answer. Although tasty, its gooey texture was giving her trouble swallowing.

“Kane Osment…” Mumbled Victor, taking a bite from his steaming red bean taiyaki, almost burning his tongue in the process. “It does sound familiar.” 

Yurio looked at the two men, confused. 

“She competed in the same competition as you about four years ago I think.” Elaborated Yuuri, handing Victor his drink to try and cool the burn.

“You did?” Yurio was finding it difficult to hide his surprise, so instead he decided to pierce through his apple pie.

“In the woman’s division, of course.” Thalia added, which didn’t make Yurio feel any better for not knowing who she was.

“Hadn’t you come second or third in the junior grand prix that year?” Continued Yuuri.

“No that's not it…” Mumbled Victor as he blew on his dessert.

“First.” Offered Thalia. “Not bad for a junior debut.”

“ “Not at all.” Mumbled Yurio, how could he not remember her at all?

“Ah!” Victor snapped his finger, causing the people at the table to jump. “There were two Kane Osments that year.”

“Yeah, my sister competed as well.” Agreed Thalia, “we both made it into the finals.”

“But didn’t one of you have an accident during the free skate?”

“That… was also my sister.” She answered sheepishly, directing her attention back to her dessert.

“I remember that!” Piped in Mpho. “A broken arm?”

“Leg, flip done wrong.”

“I’m so sorry to hear!” Exclaimed Giulia.

Thalia shrugged. “She’s ok now, full recovery, barely anyone remembers it.”

“Do the two of you still skate though?” Continued to ask Giulia. 

Thalia shook her head, once again almost choking as she swallowed her mochi almost whole. 

“The doctors said Nadia, my sister, wouldn’t be able to skate again due to her injury, and I didn’t want to skate without her.” The girl just shrugged. “So the two of us quit skating.”

“Oh what a pity.” Giulia was saying, however Thalia’s final answer had caused Yurio to look back up at the girl. Something hadn’t sounded right, as if she had rehearsed what to say when asked that.

However, before Yurio could even ask, the conversation was diverted to a less depressing topic.

* * *

It was almost 10 when the small group left the restaurant.

“Yuuri, I want to drink!” Whined Victor almost collapsing on Yuuri, and causing Giulia to giggle at their antics. 

“Well both Yurio and Nathalia are underage so I don't think that's an option.” Added Mpho.

“Oh! Don’t stay changing plans because of me, I don’t mind heading back to the hotel, I'm kinda beat.” Began Thalia, raising her hand behind her head.

“Nonsense!” Declared Victor, waving a finger in her face and causing her to blink in surprise. “The night is young, and you are young, you should savour the treasures Japan has to offer.”

“What about the summer festival?” Suggested Yuuri.

“Festival?” Victor enquired, this was the first he’d heard of this.

“Yes, the annual midsummer festival. It shouldn't be very far from here.”

“Oh that’s perfect my dear Yuuri!” Cheered Victor, still leaning all his body weight on Yuuri. “Like this we adults can drink and the kids can still enjoy themselves.”

Victor winked at Thalia as he said this causing her to blush.

“Don’t call me a kid!” Protested Yurio, pushing his hands into his pockets.

“Lead the way, Yuuri!” Chimed in Victor and the younger man had no other choice but to lead the small group .

Mpho gave a low whistle and Giulia murmured something in italian as the festival loomed over them.

“It's beautiful!” Whispered Nathalia, her eyes wide, the lights of the lanterns reflecting in them. Small, traditional-like stalls lined a cobblestone street filled with people. Soft, string based music danced through the air, mingling with the smell of oriental food and incense. People of all ages strolled between the stalls, some eating what looked like bite sized balls of fried dough on sticks, others were carrying little multicoloured bags filled with sweets. In one corner a small group of children were squealing as they tried to scoop fish out of a tank with tiny little nets. 

“You’ve been holding out on me, Yuuri!” Accused Victor, practically spinning in front of the entrance. 

“It is nothing compared to the festivals held in Kyoto or Tokyo.” Yuuri admitted.

“Well, for someone who's never been to those this seems pretty impressive, doesn’t it Yurio?” 

Yurio just grunted, not wanting to satisfy Victor with further reaction, although the festival did look sort of interesting.

“So why don’t we split up here for the time being?” Suggested Victor. “We adults can go grab a drink while the kids enjoy the festivities.”

“I’m not a kid!” protested Yurio, again.

“But this is Yurio’s first festival I think, won’t they get lost?” Yuuri asked, concerned.

“His japanese is more than acceptable.” Declared Victor, “and we’ll be away for only an hour.”

“Hey! Don’t make plans for me Victor!” Protested Yurio.

“Now Yurio.” Victor said sternly, ignoring the boy’s protests. “Be a gentleman to Thalia, no ditching her or anything.”

“I’m not that much of a prick to do that!” Yurio protested loudly, causing passersbys to look.

Thalia sighed and hooked her arm in Yurio’s, surprising the boy into silence. 

“We’ll meet you all here in an hour.” She said and without another word she dragged the still stunned Yurio into the crowd.

“Enjoy the night, Lovebirds!” Called Victor, causing Thalia to roll her eyes and knock Yurio back to his senses.

“What’s the big idea?” He exclaimed as he squirmed out of her grip.

“The deal was to get this back.” She explained, showing off her mobile phone.

“What? When did you…” Yurio aggressively began patting his jacket pockets.

“Darn, over thirty messages, those are going to take forever to answer.” Thalia sighed, looking up from her screen to see Yurio’s crossed arms and a disappointed face. 

“But nothing that can’t wait another hour.” She spared Yurio a small smile before plunging into the crowd, her mobile phone raised high above her head as she began snapping photos of everything.

“Hey!” Yurio yelled, running after her, Victor would never let him hear the end of it if he actually  _ did _ lose Thalia in this crowd.

The hour flew by faster than Yurio even thought possible. Thalia stumbled past the last few stalls, laughing at how close Yurio had come to winning a gold fish as she clasped an oversized hamster soft toy she had won for herself at a water gun - balloon game. 

“That fish just got lucky!” Protested Yurio, “If I had caught him I’d have shipped him off to Russia for Potya’s breakfast!” 

Although he was genuinely annoyed, Thalia couldn’t help laugh at him. She took a deep breath, grabbing at her waist which was hurting from all the laughing and she looked down at her phone.

“Gosh! Where does the time go? We have to go meet the others soon!”

“Oh.” Was Yurio’s response, did he sound disappointed? It wasn’t very often he got the chance to act like a normal teenager with people his age, it was, grudgingly, nice. 

“Yuri!” Thalia shouted, causing the boy to jump.

“What’s wrong?” He looked around frantically, had she lost something? 

“We haven’t taken a picture together yet!” She ran her hand through her hair, at some point she’d decided to release it from its bun. “Do you mind?”

Yurio gave an exaggerated sigh, what had he expected? Thalia was a fan of his in the end.

“Fine.” And he reluctantly presented his hand, palm up, to her.

She looked at him, confused.

“What are you doing?” She took an awkward step backwards.

“The ears.” He sighed, no need for her to play dumb. “The headband with the cat ears, you want me to wear those for the picture, don’t you?”

Thalia rolled her eyes as she pushed his hand away. Instead she squeezed in a little closer to Yurio and outstretched her hand, her phone already in selfie mode. 

“Smile!” She called, capturing Yurio's confused smile.

“It came pretty cute.” She confirmed, looking at the picture.

“ So you really don’t want pictures with cat ears?” 

“Is it that hard to believe?” She asked, putting the phone into her bag.

“Well it’s kind of my signature, sort of.”

“But you never look particularly happy wearing them.” She said, shrugging.

Before Yurio could even comment, his mobile phone gave a shrill ring. He pulled it out of his pocket, the caller ID read Victor.

He answered it and the two exchanged some rapid words in Russian. At one point Yurio’s voice rose and his face turned red and he promptly cut soon after that. 

“The others are waiting for us.” He summarised.

“Yeah I got that.” Laughed Thalia as the two teens wondered back to the entrance where the rest of their group was waiting for them.


	4. Spirit

Yurio rolled over in bed, his phone held over his face as he scrolled through Instagram the next morning. His eyes scanned images of Kazakhstan's largest natural park from Otabek, an overly filtered image of JJ on his honeymoon, additional glitter added to the Hawaiian beach, even an unwelcome picture of Chris in a speedo cursed his screen but other than the group photo Victor had posted the previous night at the festival Yurio had not been tagged in any other photos recently.

“What a strange girl.” He mumbled to himself as he sat up to get ready for breakfast. In the hours they’d spent together, Thalia had taken only a single picture with him, and she hadn’t even bothered posting it online? It was bound to be instantly popular, so why hadn’t she?

Yurio shrugged his shoulders as he slipped the phone into his hoodie pocket. Why should he care anyway? It's not like he and Thalia were friends, and it wasn’t like he’d ever see her again. 

And he headed out for breakfast wondering how bad Victor’s hangover was going to be that morning.

* * *

“Yuuri! Guys!” Yuuko greeted the small group as they entered the Ice Palace as enthusiastically as always.

“Not so loud, Yuuko.” Begged Victor. “It's too early.”

“Victor had a little too much to drink last night.” Sighed Yuuri, in response to Yuuko’s questioning look.

“Well, I hope you are well enough to dance, your audience has been waiting.” 

“Audience?” Yurio looked at Yuuko as she began filing her children in order.

As a response she pointed in the general direction of the rink. Yurio followed her lead to see the three charity winners from yesterday sitting on a few chairs purposely set out for them and seemed to be discussing something with Lilia and Yakov, who was already present via video call.

“Please Yuuko, I am a professional.” Scoffed Victor, sounding offended as he straightened up.

“What are they doing here?” Hissed Yurio, looking between the winners and the small group before him.

“Victor thought it would be a good idea for them to come see us practice.” Yuuri explained, apologetically. “It happened while we were out for drinks.”

Yurio cursed in Russian. “Does nobody bother telling me anything anymore!?”

“Oh lighten up Yurio, it's not a big deal.” Scolded Yuuko as she leaned across her desk, getting a full view of the skaters and the audience.

“And there's a cute girl with them!” Axel jumped up from under the desk, struggling to look up at the men.

“Could it be? Yurio is shy?” Jumped in Lutz, leaning on the table besides her sister. 

“Oh? Does Yurio have a crush?” The final sister piped in until Yurio had 3 irritating seven year olds looking eagerly up at him.

“Tsk, what kind of stupid reason is that?” Yurio crossed his hands, annoyed at the children’s assumptions.

“But she is cute Yurio, you have to admit.” Yuuko winked at the younger boy.

Yurio simply tsked again, and marched towards the changing room, he would no dane stupid questions with pointless answers.

Ten minutes later the skaters were in their training gear and walking towards the coaches and spectators, their skates hanging from their shoulders.

“Buongiorno.” Giulia instantly greeted, being the first one to see them.

“Good to see you three had a good night.” Victor smiled, pleasantly.

“Were you as clueless about this as me?” Whispered Thalia, smiling excitedly at Yurio as she quickly finished texting. She looked even more excited today than for the dinner, could seeing them practice be that interesting?

“Found out when I walked into here.” He admitted, a shiver running down his spine as if he was being watched. Reluctantly he turned slightly in the direction of the reception desk to see four pairs of menacingly gleaming eyes, Yuuko would make sure he heard of this later.

“Yuri.” 

Yurio instantly focused his attention on the Prima Ballerina as she gracefully walked towards him. “Have you thought of your theme?”

“Not yet.” He admitted, annoyed with himself. He hadn’t had time to think of anything after his mother’s call the previous day.

Lilia shot Thalia a disapproving glance, causing the teenager to take a sheepish step back. 

“Distractions will present themselves in one's performance.”

Yurio stood up even straighter, his jaw sat. “I am not distracted.”

“Then prove it in today's practice.” She simply stated. 

And without sparing Thalia a second glance he slipped on his skates and made his way towards the rink.

“Don’t be so harsh on him, Lilia.” Commented Victor as he forced his skates on. “Some distractions may even better a performance, from my experience.”

“Are you going to show me how to coach now, Vitya?” Lilia narrowed her eyes at victor.

“Never.” Victor said slyly as he followed Yuuri onto the rink to begin stretches and warm up.

Practice passed without a hitch. Yuuri and Victor even began discussing their respective choreographies with Yakov while Lilia personally supervised Yurio’s training, focusing on increasing his stamina.

“As I imagined, a lot goes on behind the scenes to prepare for the championships.” Mpho commented as the skaters left the rink for a short break a while later. 

Yuuko handed them each a bottle of water while the triplets offered Lillia and their guests some tea.

“You’ve no idea.” Absentmindedly added Thalia, blowing into her tea. She wasn’t usually a fan of tea but it was definitely on her Japanese bucket list.

“You probably understand the best from us civilians.” Observed Giulia, accepting the tea for Axel. 

“Do you skate?” Politely asked Yuuko, leaning against the rink wall.

“She’s Nathalia Kane Osment.” Explained Yuuri.

“You’re Nathalia Kane Osment?” Yuuko almost slid off the wall in surprise.

“Guilty.” Murmured Thalia into her tea, it really was bitter, but hadn’t she read somewhere it was impolite to leave tea undrunk in Japan?

“Kane Osment?” Lutz looked up at her mother, confused by the unfamiliar name, her sister, Loop, already looking the name up on her phone.

“She came first in the female division of the Junior Championship a few years back.” Added Victor.

“You were performing sisters if I recall, right?” Yuuko said slowly, trying to remember the details. “But I haven’t seen either of you at the championships in a while.”

“We quit skating after my sister’s injury.” Thalia said in a distracted voice, her eyes scanning the stadium, was there maybe an unsuspecting plant she could feed this tea too?

“Oh! I’ve got it!” Chirped in Victor with a look on his face that Yuuri just knew meant trouble for one of them, usually him. “Why don’t you give us a little performance, Thalia?”

“E una buona idea!” Exclaimed Giulia.

Thalia almost spat out her tea at the suggestion.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t practiced in years!” Began Thalia, trying to wipe the escaped tea from her mouth. “I’d make an utter fool of myself, especially in front of professionals like you.”

She tried giving Yurio a pleading look but even in his silence, Yurio’s interest had also been piqued.

“What is fooling about amongst friends?” Victor walked towards Thalia, winking as he caused her to blush.

“N-no I can’t.” Thallia took a step away from the handsome man, shaking her head. “Rusty doesn’t even begin to describe it…”

“It’s like riding a bike.” Yuuko said, trying to be encouraging. “You never forget.”

“ B-but I wouldn’t even know what to dance!” Thalia looked desperately at the individual members, hoping one of them would see just how bad an idea this really was.

“I’ve already found the song you performed in the Junior championship.” Prompted Loop.

“Watching the video should jog your memory.” Added Axel.

“Now guys…” Began Yuuri, noticing just how uncomfortable Thalia was becoming but very subtly Victor silenced him with a knowing look. So there really was more to this then simply Victor’s usual teasing?

Thalia’s momentary hopeful look at Yuuri’s possible intervention was quickly crushed when she realized the man would not continue his objection.

“But I can’t perform in this.” She gestured at her jeans, not the best attire for ice skating in.

“Oh, that’s an easy fix.” Admitted Yuuko, looking the girl up and down. “I definitely have something in your size you can wear.”

“But- but…” Thalia’s eyes were wide as she realised she had no other reasons to decline the suggestion. To Yurio, although the idea intrigued him, she looked almost like a deer in the headlights just waiting to be hit and he didn’t particularly like it.

“We can’t force her if she doesn’t want to.” Yurio commented in a disinterested voice, not even looking at her as he spoke. Thalia instantly gave him a grateful smile, finally someone had come to her rescue!

“Oh! If Thalia's so shy to perform alone, why don’t you dance with her, Yurio?” Victor teased. “You can perform the exhibition piece you did with Otabek.” 

“Now you’re talking nonsense.” Growled Yurio but he could feel a flush spreading across his face. How was it only Victor ever managed to make him blush so? It was irritating. Thalia almost dropped her tea cup at the suggestion.

“”N-no, no.” She quickly said, flicking the spilled tea off her hand. “T-that’s ok, I’ll give it a shot. But I’m warning you all, I'm going to fall on my butt- alot.”

The little girls cheered in unison as they grabbed Thalia’s hands and practically dragged her to the changing room, their mother following closely as she berated Thalia with questions about shoe sizes and material preference and the teenager struggled not to spill what remained of the now lukewarm tea.

“Victor, what’s the reason for making Thalia do this?” Whispered Yuuri as he saw the Nishigori family finally file out of the changing room, looking very pleased with themselves a short time later.

“I want to see Nathalia’s face as she performs.” Victor mysteriously answered, leaning on the rink wall. 

“Her face?”

“Yes.” Victor simply replied as finally Thalia appeared at the edge of the rink, shyly looking out across its smooth surface.

Mpho gave a small whistle.

“ _Bellissima_.” Murmured Giulia.

When Yuuko had said she had something that would fit she was referring to her collection of performing dresses she always kept immaculately cleaned and hung in her office. Not to be worn usually, more for the memories, but that day one had escaped the past to perform once again. 

A majestic white leotard with a splattering of silver gems on the front and a short, slightly pleated skirt. The sleeves were long with a short tuft of material matching that of the skirt hanging from the back, giving the impression of wings. Thalia's previous makeup had been removed, for normal cosmetics would simply smudge during a performance and her long hair had been braided on either side and pulled into a neat bun.

“That’s the one you wore for the Swan Lake routine?” Enquired Yuuri as Yuuko and her children joined them behind the wall, remembering the show from before Yuuko was even married.

“Yeah.” Yuuko agreed, feeling pleased with her handy work. “It felt appropriate for the song she would be dancing to.”

Thalia tugged at the skirt self-consciously as she skated to the center, it had been a very long time since she’d worn something this short, and her body image problems were plaguing her mind that it didn’t look as good as it would had she worn it during her prime.

She looked nervously at the group, Giulia was giving her a big thumbs up, Italians were so enthusiastic about everything! But everyone was eagerly waiting to see what she could do, even Yurio was looking at her with the slightest hint of interest. She didn’t mean to but her eyes momentarily fell on Yurio’s, she had never expected that when she came to Japan that she would get to perform in front of her idol, but did he need to look at her with such a concrete expression? It almost matched that of the coaches, and one was simply a video on a screen!

Thalia tried to take a calming breath, why had she chosen such a long song for her free skate? It's going to kill her. But Thalia took another steadying breath as she closed her eyes allowing her body to fall into the required position. She’d have to suck it up, Nathalia Kane Osment was not one to back out of anything, though she was glad her sister would never learn about this, she’d be sending her daggers all the way from Canada.

“She’s surprisingly calm for someone asked to put on a performance on the spot.” Observed Yakov as Thalia adjusted her body. Then with a nod of her head at the triplets, one of the kids pressed a button and music began to waft out of the speakers, filling the cold stadium with its alien sound. It was an orchestral piece Yurio hadn’t heard before.

“It’s Hans Zimmer's orchestral piece from Spirit!” Explained Mpho, “My children are obsessed with the film.”

For the first part Thalia barely moved, allowing just her hands to sway with music, allowing them to move as if imitating a flowing river. Then as the crescendo began she kicked against the ice her arms beating in one swell motion like those of birds that were taking flight, she skated around the rink, increasing her speed in time to the crescendo before leaping into a double loop and triple sachchew. 

There was a gasp from Mpho and Giulia as Thalia touched the ground during here jumps but she quickly got back on her feet, swinging her arms into a spin, and pushing herself back to the center here arms moving ceaselessly to the time of the music before, once again kicking up speed in time to the crescendo, she landed a triple axel triple loop combination and lept straight into a step sequence, her feet moving to the staccato flawlessly before taking a breather round around the rink, but as the music intensified she performed a Quad Toe-Triple Toe combination gaining an impressive amount of altitude and distance as she performed a quadruple salchow. 

She stumbled slightly but continued going, her breath already coming out ragged, how had she managed to fit so many jumps into her Free skate? How hadn’t the judges berated her on this back then? It was exhausting but she entered another step sequence, her arms folding in on themselves as she then folded her body, building up spin, her hands sweeping against the ice before she rose, still spinning into a half-Biellmann position. She cursed to herself, she wasn’t as flexible as she used to, her leg wasn’t particularly straight, and this was Yurio's signature move, she had hoped to impress him with it. But she’d made it this far and she was going to finish her performance.

She bent her body and swept her arms across her chest allowing her leg to lower itself slowly before sweeping across the rink in a spread eagle manner to catch her breath before building up her momentum to perform a quad toe loop. She bit her lip as the quad turned into a triple, but she skated into a triple sachshaw and stepped into one final step sequence as she skated to the center, spinning to a stop, both hands, palm down on the ice.

The music silenced but Thalia’s heart was pounding and her muscles were screaming from fatigue . She couldn’t even look at the audience to see their response. Did she want to see it? She’d messed up so badly on some of those jumps that her old coach would have had her head. 

The audience’s response was delayed, making her anxiety grow but what Thalia didn’t know was that they were so captivated by the girl's performance they couldn't tear their eyes from her panting body, they’d barely realised the music had stopped. 

“ _Bravissima_!” Exclaimed Giulia, the first to emerge from the stupor, clapping so loudly she brought the rest to their senses, causing them to erupt into applause, even Lilia clapped politely. 

“I see what you mean.” Observed Yuuri, looking towards Victor, who was looking at the girl with a gleam in his eye.

“Those flips…” Observed Yurio, his arms were still crossed, the only one not applauding. Not because he hadn’t been impressed by the girl’s performance, the message her dance sent him was clear as a cloudless sky, one of escape, of tossing away shackles, of dreaming to be free. Yurio’s heart had been pounding throughout the performance but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

“...Would never be put in the performance of a junior.” Agreed Yakov, his voice cracking slightly with static as he remembered the numerous scoldings he’d given Yurio about his body not being ready for flips in the Junior championship.

“Those were not the movements of a girl who hadn’t touched the ice in years.” Lilia observed, stopping her polite clapping. 

“That was not the face of a girl who’d ever given up ice skating willingly.” Yurio heard Victor tell Yuuri, remembering the soft smile that had played across her lips throughout her performance. 

Yurio looked on at the girl as she finally tried to stand, almost falling back with fatigue. Her face was red for a number of reasons, but her eyes were gleaming.

So why had she quit skating? Yurio found himself asking.

Thalia staggered out of the rink, Yuuko waiting by the exit to help her stay on her feet as she forced her feet out of her skates, they were pounding from the effort.

“That was amazing!” Declared Yuuko.

“T-thanks.” Thalia sighed, Yuuko must be being polite.

Giulia came rattling something in italian, closely followed by the others.

“That was beautiful!” Added Yuuri, smiling down at the shorter girl as she tugged at the pins in her hair.

She let out a tired laugh. “It would have been even better if one of you performed it.”

“Now Thalia…” Victor's voice practically sang as he ruffled her hair fondly, though a little painful as not all of the pins had been removed just yet. “It's good to be modest but too much modesty is annoying.” 

“I- erm, I didn’t mean to..” but Victor silenced her with a wink.

“Just accept the compliment. And that reminds me… Yurio!” Victor practically sang the name, much to the youth’s annoyance. “It's a gentleman’s job to praise a lady, especially when she deserves it.”

“You lied yesterday, didn’t you?” 

That was not what anyone had expected Yurio to say. His arms were crossed and his bangs covered one of his eyes, giving him an angry look.

“W-what?”

“Yurio…” There was a warning in Yuuko’s voice which Yurio chose to ignore.

“That may not be the performance worthy of a championship, but the effort and time you put into it is stupidly clear.”

“Yurio!” Warned Yuuri not liking Yurio’s tone. 

“It was my performance from when I competed.” Thalia countered.

“I’ve never even seen your performance but I know it can’t be that.”

“And why is it so hard to believe?” Thalia’s voice was rising as she continued to defend herself.

Where would Yurio begin? The flips and loops? The timing? Those were not at the level of someone who hadn’t practiced in years.

“Thalia why are you lying about your skating?” Yurio finally said, voicing the question that was on almost everyone’s mind.

But before she could even reply there was a loud noise from the rink wall where her phone was. She stomped towards it and her frown deepened. 

“It’s Nadia.” She murmured.

“Don’t answer it, this is important.” Chided Yurio.

“No something’s wrong, she usually texts not calls.” And without another word she answered the call.

Although the words were incomprehensible the agitated buzz erupting from the phone’s speaker caused Thalia to jump in surprise.

“Nad.. wait.. Slow down!” Thalia yelled over the buzz. “Huh?! How did you… it just happened! Video? Online? Nadia!”

As Thalia frantically tried to talk to her sister on her phone, a familiar dread wafted over Yuuri from the few words he could hear. This scenario seemed strangely familiar he thought as his eyes narrowed on the triplets, too preoccupied by their mobile phones to notice Thalia's obvious distress.

“Axel, Lutz, Loop.” There was an uncharacteristic warning in Yuuri’s voice which instantly caught the girls’ attention, the looks on their faces as obvious as if they had painted their own hands red.

“Girls!” Gasped Yuuko, also understanding what might have happened.

“You uploaded a video of Thalia’s dance online, didn’t you?” Yuuri accused.

“Again?” Sighed Yuuko, massaging her brow, when were her kids going to learn they needed people’s permission to do stuff like that?

“It was a live stream actually.” Corrected Lutz, as if that made things remotely better.

“It worked out pretty well last time!” Piped in Axel.

“It got you and Victor to meet.” Added Loop.

“That was a one off thing.” Explained Yuuri, “Not everyone is as ridiculously spontaneous as Victor.”

Victor just shrugged at the accusation, he couldn’t deny that was true.

“It could get people in serious trouble.” Added Yuuko, kneeling besides her children as she forced them to look at the now pacing Thalia, her hands waving in the air as she tried to get a word in with her sister.

“The bigger question is why would anyone react this way?” Observed Yurio, his eyes never leaving the girl.

There were a few more minutes of pacing and Thalia shouting out random words into her microphone as if playing a bad game of charades.

“Nadia! Nadia!” She finally yelled, but the line cut. She let out a long breath, running her hand through her hair as if that would help clear her thoughts. She then cleared her throat finally turning to the small group she had unintentionally given a second, very different, show to. 

“We’re sorry!” Cried the sisters, running towards Thalia, tears making their eyes look even larger. 

“We didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“Is everything, okay with your sister?” But Yuuri felt foolish asking, of course it wasn’t but he didn’t know what else to say.

“She’ll calm down, eventually.” Sighed Thalia, “She’s been moodier since I left. I think she was more surprised then angry… I hope anyway.”

Thalia finally pulled out the last bobbing pin from her hair and directed a tired glance at Yurio.

“This is why I don’t figure skate, not in front of people anyway.” She said, shaking her phone to reference her sister. “Ice skating was our life, both Nadia’s and mine. But after the accident, Nadia was told she could never skate again… Well she fell into a deep dark hole and nothing we did could pull her out of. The more she saw me skate the more she drowned... we almost lost her… Giving up my skating cast a lifeline for Nadia, it saved her and I haven’t regretted it since .” 

And with that she marched to the changing room to get dressed.

“But did anyone throw a lifeline to save you?” Noted Victor, just loud enough for Yuuri and Yurio to hear.

The rest of the day passed in a painful drag, Yuuri and his companions resumed their training, Giulia and Mpho observing in polite silence, Thalia never returned from the changing room though Yuuko assured them she hadn’t left the building.

“She might still be trying to calm things down with her sister.” Sighed Yuuri, during one of their water breaks.

“You pushed her too hard, Yurio.” Complained Victor, wiping his brow with a towel.

“Me?” Protested Yurio, pulling his hair back into a ponytail and out of his eyes. “You practically forced her to perform.”

“But you should know that prying into a person’s private life is a different kind of wrong.” Prompted Victor, the implications clear to Yurio.

“Yuuri!” One of the Nishigori girls came waddling to where the small group was resting. “She’s leaving!”

“You mean Thalia? Where’s she going?” Yuuri quickly asked, his voice rich with concern.

“Back to the hotel.” The girl frantically answered, the trouble their video had caused had made the girls a little flustered.

“Yurio you should go talk to her.” Ordered Victor.

“What? Why me?” Complained Yurio.

“Because tomorrow she’s heading to Kyoto and after that back home and you may never see her again and do you really want to part ways like this?” Victor explained as if he were explaining something painfully simple.

“Firstly, I wasn’t the one to post the video so why do I have to go?” Stubbornly began Yurio. “Second, why should I do anything if I’m never going to see her again?”

“She looks up to you Yurio.” Began Yuuri, “You’d be surprised how much your words could affect her.” Yuuri continued remembering his anxiety attack during the quarter finals.

“Now shoo before she gets away, we’ll keep Lilia occupied.” Said Victor physically pushing the protesting Yurio towards the exit.

“How are we going to do that?” Whispered Yuuri, following Victor to where Lilia was waiting.

“Surprisingly, that took less convincing than I thought.” Reported Victor, stopping beside Lilia, the ballerina's stern eyes following her pupil as he skipped out of the rink and hopped to remove his skates.

“Although he's still a boy, Yuri is a professional and an artist, he has no time to waste on these matters.” Lilia half scolded as she watched her pupil’s movements, but she didn’t do much else to stop him. 

“That was really sneaky Victor.” Complained Yuuri as his fiancé put a relaxed arm around his shoulders.

“Oh he’ll thank me someday.” Laughed Victor as he watched Yurio run out of the ice castle in his socks.

“In the very distant future maybe.” Sighed Yuuri.

* * *

“Thalia!” 

The Canadian girl almost dropped her phone in surprise at suddenly being called.

“Yurio!” She gasped, “Where are your shoes?”

“Why- where are you going?” He quickly corrected, swiping a few loose strands of hair out of his eyes.

“I got a headache from all the commotion.” She explained bashfully, “I’ve called an Uber to take me back to the hotel to rest, got some travelling to do tomorrow.”

So Victor hadn’t been lying about that.

“About before…” He began.

“Please don’t tell me you came all this way to apologise?”

“I don’t feel like I need to apologise.”

“Then why did you follow me out here?” Thalia adjusted her bag as she spoke.

“That routine, your skating, you really are good.” Sighed Yurio, not sure what to say, was this the encouragement Yuuri meant?

“Thanks…” And Thalia paused, allowing an awkward silence to fall between the teens. “Erm you know all that, about my sister, I never actually told anyone that.”

“Did it help with.. whatever’s going on?” Yurio waved his hand vaguely.

Thalia seemed to think over his words. “I’m not sure.” She finally admitted. “I’ve felt like this since you took my phone yesterday but it’s like a weight has been lifted off my chest, like I’m more…” Her voice trailed, as the word she looked for eluded her.

“Free?” Suggested Yurio, remembering the way she looked as she danced, like a bird finally released from its cage.

Thalia nodded her head, in her hand her phone notified her that her Uber would soon be arriving.

“I really did enjoy spending time with you Yurio.” Thalia smiled fondly yet sadly. “ But you reminded me a bit of myself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He protested as the taxi pulled over before Thalia. 

“You may not have a twin sister but you too have something keeping you back, I think.” She explained climbing into the car.

“Keeping me back?” Yurio echoed.

Thalia forced the window open and gave him one last smile. 

“Good luck for the championships!” She called as the taxi began to drive. “I hope you figure it out soon!”

And with that Yurio was left on the pavement Thalia’s parting words repeating themselves in his mind as if they had spoken some secret he had been keeping even from himself.

“I hope you do too.” He mumbled as he walked back into the Ice palace, feeling foolish.

“Did you get to talk to her?” Quickly enquired Yuuri, looking worried.

“Seems like she left you with some mindful parting words.” Added Victor as if he had somehow eavesdropped in their conversation. But Yurio ignored them, and marched directly up to Yakov and Lilia, an unusual emotion in his viridian green eyes. 

“I’ve decided on this year's theme for my set.” He stated without hesitation. 


	5. The Road Ahead

The months leading up to the championships merged into a concoction of blistered feet, bruised landings and late nights collapsed on the Ice Palace’s benches. The letter from N.E.K.O and the whirlwind that had been Nathalia Kane Osmont were all but forgotten. Yurio’s grades had improved yet had barely reached his mother's approval. The locations and the participants of the 2017 quarter finals were revealed and much sooner than later, it was time for the trio to part ways, sort of.

“Yuuri!” Fondly cried Victor, enjoying the name as it rolled off his tongue. “It must be faith that you and I will both be participating in the same qualifiers here in Japan!” 

It had been weeks since the reveal and yet Victor was still beaming about this fact, his face painfully adorable to Yuuri. To the Japanese skater it had been a relief, he had wondered how they were going to juggle both Victor being his coach and a competitor if they were expected to perform in different countries, his one show without Victor hadn’t gone too well, Yuuri recalled anxiously. 

“It’s a pity Yurio won’t be competing with us, it would be fun to have all three of us compete against each other.” Yuuri tried to include the teen in the conversation but Yurio had his eyes closed, arms crossed and was leaning back into the car seat, music blaring through his headphones.

“Oh Toronto! It must be faith for you to be sent to Canada after meeting Ms Kane Osmont.” Victor teased, earning him an irritated ‘tsk’ from Yurio, so he  _ had _ been listening?

“Well, what fun would it be if we all competed in the quarterfinals?” Continued Victor. ”We’ll each strive for the finals and make sure to challenge each other there.”

Yuuri nodded his head enthusiastically but Yurio, in response, kicked the taxi door open, the only one who realised they had arrived at the airport. Instantly the blinding flashes of paparazzi filled their view but Yurio simply got out of the car, his backpack draped over one shoulder as security began to clear a way towards the airport entrance, another set of security guards were already struggling to pull their luggage out of the taxi’s booth, Victor could never pack light, not even for a week trip to Tokyo.

“Yurio!” Sang Victor, practically skipping out of the car and dragging Yuuri out with him. The paparazzi's reaction intensified instantly, berating the pair with questions, pushing at the guards trying to get a better shot. 

Victor skilfully ignored them, still providing a broad smile for them as he walked after Yurio. Until a few months ago Yuuri had always considered himself your average, dime a dozen skater, though the press had always hounded him throughout the competitions, but since being coached and engaged to Victor in addition to coming in second in the Grand Prix Finals had earned him a lot more followers then he had mentally ever prepared for. He had even been offered to model swimsuits for some bizarre reason, an offer he hastily declined before Victor could come up with one of his schemes.

“Yuuri! Victor!” A particularly loud, American journalist with a camera yelled, “what about a kiss for the fans back home?”

Victor paused for a moment, of course  _ that’s _ the question he stops to answer. “I hope I don’t disappoint everyone too much but Yuuri and I have decided to abstain from such acts until after the finals.” This declaration earned him a barrage of questions from the reporters and disbelieving ‘Victor!’ From Yuuri, who hadn’t been informed about this agreement. “After all, this man promised to marry me if he wins gold and it’s only right after he made me wait.” He winked at Yuuri as the press went even crazier, eating up every crumb Victor threw their way. 

“Doesn’t mean I won’t steal a kiss later, the competitions haven’t started  _ just _ yet.” Slyly Whispered Victor into Yuuri’s ear so only he could hear. 

“Slowpokes!” The audacious call captured the reporters attention like moths to a flame. Yurio was waiting by the airport entrance, his headphones finally removed, his hood back so, except for his bangs, his face was unobscured. “Make sure both of you make it to the finals, I’ll be waiting for you on the podium.”

“Just don’t assume you’ll be taking gold again Yurio, though I thank you for keeping it warm for me.” 

The two stared at each other, the challenge almost palpable between the two champions. Listening to their exchange filled Yuuri with excitement, not the usual nervous excitement that made him want to feel sick but something different, was giddy the best word to describe it? it was the concept of competing in the same rink with two men that, in a few short months had risen from idols to something else- friends? Rivals? Possibly a weird hybrid of the two?

“Excuse the interruption but I’ll be stealing the gold from both of you.” Jumped in Yuuri, an unusually confident smile on his face. “I’ve got a man to marry.”

“Although I eagerly await that day,” Laughed Victor. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to let you win.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Admitted Yuuri, finally following Yurio into the airport.

* * *

The flight to Tokyo took barely two hours and it was pleasantly relaxing, for although Victor and Yuuri were famous in the figure skating world, not everyone was particularly interested in the sport. The trip to the hotel was a little more exciting, Victor had never been to Tokyo so he kept gawking at the lights and skyscrapers, begging the taxi driver to stop so he could take photos so by the time they arrived at their destination it was late and the two men were exhausted. At the hotel, the excitement must have finally drained Victor for, although Yuuri and Victor were sharing a twin room and Yuuri had fully expected a number of inappropriate comments from Victor, the Russian nearly instantly collapsed, fully clothed, on one of the beds. Yuuri had decided to at least unpack his performance clothes as quietly as he could, this just led to him unpacking all his things and, when that was done, he was half tempted to unpack Victor's things as well but he thought otherwise, he didn’t want to give the other man any bad habits.

Yuuri sighed as he noticed that Victor had fallen asleep in his t-shirt, his arms bare and his midriff had also been left uncovered, just barely revealing his well toned stomach. Yuuri grabbed the spare blanket from the wardrobe and carefully draped it over the sleeping man. He knew Russians were tolerant to the cold but Victor would still catch a cold if he kept sleeping like this. 

Yuuri gently sat on the edge of Victor's bed, careful not to wake him as he pulled the blanket towards his chin. Yuuri found himself gazing down on his sleeping fiance's face, he had noticed this long ago but there was a softness in Victor’s face when he slept, as if the confident mask he wore in front of everyone, even Yuuri, was cast off leaving something more vulnerable in its place. Yuuri silently wished that Victor would show this side to him a little more. Victor had seen him at his lowest, in tears and discouraged beyond words but he had been Yuuri’s rock, helping him stand again. Would it be possible for Yuuri to become Victor’s rock someday? Even a mighty mountain someday vanishes if the waves crash into it often enough, would Yuuri be able to be there for Victor, if that were ever to happen? 

Yuuri gently bent down and kissed Victor’s forehead.

“I love you.” Yuuri whispered, the weight of those three words, finally being said out loud, was indescribable, Yuuri had never actually said them aloud although his feelings had always been clear in other ways. 

Yuuri made to sit back up, but there was a soft rustling as a slender hand emerged from under the blanket and gently held his hand, stopping him from moving.

“Victor!” Whispered Yuuri, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Victor looked up at Yuuri with his beautiful blue eyes as they looked at him tenderly. 

“I love you too, Yuuri,” Whispered Victor, leaning forward slightly to gently kiss Yuuri’s hand, sending Yuuri’s heart fluttering.

* * *

Yurio was even crankier than usual. Being stuffed in a plane for half a day with just Lilia for company got him counting to 10 many, many times as nearly everything the flight attendants did was below acceptable in the woman’s eyes. He’d tried listening to the recorded lessons his teachers had sent about quadratic equations and classical Russian literature but they hadn’t improved his mood, leading to him almost biting Yakov's head off when he met them at the airport where the coach had been waiting for them. He had marched to his room once they’d arrived at the hotel, slammed his door and ate through half the packets of peanuts he found in his mini fridge before collapsing for the night, without the slightest interest in the new city he’d finally arrived in.

With the competition starting in just two days, Yurio had to get over his jet lag, fast. The next day he trained through the fatigue, till he was so tired he had no choice but sleep through the night. During training Yakov seemed mildly pleased that his online sessions, accompanied by Lilia’s supervision did not seem to have hindered the boy’s performance capabilities. During his training he encountered a number of his competitors, Phichit Chulanont and Christophe Giacometti seemed to be participating in the same quarter finals cup as him, but they didn’t particularly interest him, choosing to stay away from such distractions as he always did, his goal wasn’t here, to compete against these particular man. And much sooner rather than later it was time for the first competition of the season.


	6. To Defy Gravity

“ Yuri ?” An old, familiar voice greeted him through his mobile phone. It was a low gruff, yet gentle voice, one that had seen the times change and could tell stories beyond Yurio’s wildest imagination.

“Hello Dedushka.“ Yurio greeted, walking away from Lilia and Yakov, although you couldn’t see it you could hear the smile in his voice. “How have you been?”

“Quiet without you.” The old man said, “I’ve got a lot more space to move around without you practicing throughout the house.”

Yurio gave a small, quiet laugh so no one passing by could hear him. His grandfather lived in the countryside outside Moscow, in the same small home he had been raised in, and had raised his own family in. Even after all these years, with his son having moved out for bigger conquests and his wife having passed away, his grandfather continued living in that same little house, making it the only home Yurio ever knew. 

“Is Potya doing ok?” Enquired Yurio.

“Growing fatter by the day without you.” The old man chuckled, a deep hearty laugh like you’d expect from a Father Christmas impersonator, “I’ve told you she’s an over privileged pig and not a cat.”

Yurio smiled into his microphone. It buzzed against his ear as he received a message. A quick glance from the notification screen told him it was a message from Victor, wishing him good luck. 

_ You better focus on your own competition _ . Yurio thought before his grandfather continued talking. 

“We will be watching you on the television, Yakov helped set it up before he left.”

“Ready to watch me win?” Yurio asked, confidently.

“Always,” His grandfather confirmed. In the background the chimes of an old cuckoo clock that had been hanging in the house almost as long as his grandfather had been living there let out an old, metallic hoot, indicating half past whatever hour it was back in Russia, it would soon be time for Yurio to go out on the rink. 

“Thanks for calling, Dedushka,” Yurio had to keep the call shorter then he would have liked but international calls like this were expensive and although his parents were rich, his grandfather was not. Since he’d started winning, even way back in his junior years, Yurio had always given a big chunk of his prize money to his grandfather, it was the only way he could think of of thanking him for always being there, not just for caring for him, but being there in ways his parents never were. Yurio always secretly wondered what he did with it, for never once did he ever see his grandfather indulge and yet he never failed to make sure a warm plate and a smile waited for him when he returned home.

“Good luck,  Yurochka , “ his grandfather said, sneaking in the only nickname he would ever accept, “And have fun.”

The line cut with that. His grandfather was the only person who ever told him to have fun at these competitions. 

Yurio was just about to head back to where Lilia and Yakov were waiting for him, though he wasn’t all that eager to return to the divorced couple when his phone buzzed once again. Yurio almost chose to ignore it, suspecting it was another message from Yuuri or Victor, they were like doting parents, it was a miracle neither one of them had called him just yet, most likely due to the time difference not being in their favour, but they were definitely watching his program, same as the people at the Hot Spring Resort. But his eyes scanned the screen just in case.

_ “Good luck in the competition today! I’ll be rooting for you in the audience!” _ There was an exaggeration of smiley faces as Yurio read the message again. The ID read Nathalia Kane. 

It had been almost four months since he’d last heard from Thalia, not since she’d caught that taxi never to be seen again. As most other internet sensations the hype rotating around her video had died down quite quickly and before long life had returned to how it was before they had met, for the most part. However, Yurio couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t helped inspire the theme for this year’s performance and he somewhat wondered if she’d realised.

_ “Are you here?” _ He texted back.

The three dots indicating Thalia was typing on the other end bobbed into existence almost instantly, though it took awhile for her to answer. Yurio wondered back beside his coaches, there were still two competitors before his turn.

“Your head should be on the competition, not on your devices.” Scolded Yakov when Yurio finally reappeared.

“Yeah, yeah. “ He grumbled as his phone buzzed.

_ “Left entrance, seven rows down, near the guy with the Christophe Giacometti mask. _ ” Was her response.

“Yakov, Lilia, I’m going near the rink.” Yurio informed the two coaches, as he pocketed his phone, there was nothing he could do in here but look at their ugly mugs.

“Showing an interest in the competition?” Enquired Yakov approvingly but Yurio didn’t answer as he walked out of the corridor into the bright light of the stadium. It was a large stadium, even by international standards, probably one of the largest Yurio had ever been to. The stadium was filled with an innumerable number of people as they cheered the closing sequence of Chris's performance. Flags waved and noses bled as he winked at his audience.

Just one more performance then his own, Yurio should not be out here so close to his own performance and, although he scolded himself he found himself scanning the left side of the stadium anyway, would it be possible to see a pair of mismatched eyes in such a crowd?

“Yuri!!” A surprisingly loud yell caught his attention as a group of ice skating women sweeped the rink from the numerous roses that had been tossed at Christophe at the end of his performance.

Yuri adjusted his gaze until he saw an oversized man with a really creepy looking mask of Chris covering his face. Beside him were two identical looking teenage girls, pale skin, strawberry blonde hair and, if he were closer Yurio would have seen mismatched eyes, probably making two matching pairs between them. One girl was sitting in her seat looking puzzled as her counterpart was practically jumping as she waved at the boy who must have looked tiny from the distance between them.

“Yuri!” She yelled again, for someone who seemed so self conscious back in Japan she didn’t seem shy, yelling his name in front of thousands of people. 

She gave him an encouraging, overly excited thumbs up when he nodded his head in acknowledgement, looking away quickly not wanting to look too interested. She sat back down, looking rather pleased with herself. Yurio leaned against the rink wall as a skater from Korea whose name he couldn’t remember took the stage. He’d had fans cheering for him before, he’d always chosen to ignore them, so why had he come out before his competition to see Thalia? He wasn’t one to feed his fanbase but even the way she cheered for him, it was embarrassing to say the least but it reminded him more of how Minako or Yuuko cheered for Yuuri rather than how he’d come accustomed to his fans’ cheering.

There was a strong hand on his shoulder.

“It is time to get ready.” Observed Lilia, the Korean performer, according to the presenter, had already reached the mid way mark of his performance.

Yurio took a deep breath, not sparing the audience another look, it was time to show the world who held the title of senior grand champion. 

The Korean’s performance ended in a shower of dog shaped soft toys and an echoing applause. As the female skaters in pale blue dresses skated across the rink picking up what the audience had thrown, the presenter waited for the previous participant and his coach to meet at the Kiss and Cry before revealing his final score, putting him in third place. 

“Next we have last year’s champion, Yuri Plisetsky from Russia!” The male presenter began, allowing a moment for the audience to cheer as the youth skated to the center. His shoulder length blond hair had been braided from the sides and pulled back. His costume was green the same colour as his eyes, darkened by a sheer layer above with a speckling of dark sequence, giving the impression of wings. “This is his first performance of the championship following his historic win last year in Barcelona. This year’s theme has been revealed to be ‘freedom’ however, when asked to elaborate on this specific choice Plisetsky has chosen not to comment. For this year’s short programme he will be skating to an orchestration of Schwatz’s ‘Defying Gravity’.

And with that last declaration Yurio arched his back and folded his arms in much the way a ballet dancer would when waiting for their performance to start, allowing the music to wash over him as he began to move.

The minutes passed by in seconds.

The audience stood, clapping at the beauty of his performance but, to Yurio, if he could he would have pounded at the ice at his feet. His performance had felt shallow, so focused on the routine he couldn’t focus on the music, or the emotions he had tried to display. But, as Lilia had pointed out countless times in training, just as with the Agape of last year, he had not found the freedom needed for this just yet. 

Yurio solemnly skated to the edge of the rink and made his way to the Kiss and Cry where Yakov was waiting.

“That performance...” Began Yakov.

“I know, it wasn’t enough.” Complained Yurio as the presenter released the score, putting him in second place behind Pichit.

“You have yet to find the spirit of your performance, Yuri.” Sighed the coach as Yurio marched off to the changing rooms.

There were only two skaters remaining after his permonac and, by the time he had escaped his leotard they had already finished their routine for the day. He momentarily spared the scoreboard a brief look, he was still holding second place, his free programme had to be better, it would be better, he would show Yuuri... he would show Victor... no... he would show the whole world what he was made of.

His phone vibrated in his pocket but he chose to ignore it, he was in no mood to talk to anyone. The hotel was only a ten minute walk away, the air might do him some good as he brooded over his performance. The theme of the piece was freedom but it felt anything but, like he had been dancing with invisible weights on his shoulders he didn’t know how to remove. 

It was with thoughts like this that Yurio headed towards the participants exit. 

“I’m sorry girls, this section is off limits to civilians.” A male guard standing by a flight of stairs that led to the passage was saying.

“But a friend of mine just competed, can’t you just let us through, please? The competition is over for today anyway.” A voice echoed through the empty passage, distorting it as it did so.

“I’m sorry but rules are rules.” The guard said, sounding apologetic. 

“C’mon Nathalia, let’s just get out of here. You can always just text him when we get back to great aunt Tessie’s.” Another voice said, but his ears pricked at the name.

“Thalia?” He half called as he rounded the corner, finally bringing the confrontation into view.

“Yuri!” Exclaimed one of the girls, the one he assumed was Thalia. Up close it was a little disorientating how much the two sisters looked alike, down to the same side bangs but, rather than identical, they looked more like mirror images, where Thalia’s left eye was brown and the right was blue, for her twin it was the other way round.

“What are you doing?” He tiredly asked, he wasn’t in the mood of dealing with anyone at the moment. 

“Do you really know these girls, Mr Plisetsky?” The guard enquired.

“Yes, just let them through.” Yurio sighed as the guard apologised and let the two girls pass.

“Yuri, this is my sister Nadia, as you most likely figured.” Introduced Thalia enthusiastically. Her sister, Nadia, didn’t seem to hold a portion of energy her sister did, especially for a supposed fan.

The girl simply glared at Yurio, which he really couldn’t bother with.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Commented Yurio, as he adjusted his sports bag and crossed his arms. 

“Montreal is a train ride away and we came to visit our great aunt.”

“Yes,  _ that’s _ the reason why you dragged me all the way here.” Nadia muttered, causing her sister to nudge her in the ribs playfully.

“You didn’t have to come to the competitions with me.” Thalia countered. 

But instead of responding, Nadia just rolled her eyes as if the reason for her actions were clear to understand.

To Yurio, they definitely weren’t but he didn’t care enough to read further into it. So this was the famous Nadia, Thalia had told him about? He hadn’t had the best impression of her from Thalia’s trip to Japan, and from the glare she kept giving him, it seems the feeling was mutual.

“Anyway…” Continued Thalia, “ Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?”

Yurio was about to shrug that he only planned to get back to the hotel, order food service, and over think his performance until tomorrow when Nadia roughly tugged her sister’s sleeve.

“But I’m tired Nat, “Whined the girl, “Can’t we just head back to graunty’s?”

There was just something about the girl that irked him instantly, like Nadia was used to always getting what she wanted simply by whining or pouting, like a child.

“Any suggestions on where I can get some food?” Yurio asked as they finally made it to the exit, a small collection of paparazzi was scattered there, bored of the lack of activity.

“Oh! I know a place!” Thalia said gleefully.

“But Nat!” Complained her sister, Yurio wanted to strangle her, how could Nathalia live with such a person constantly hovering around her?

“Don’t worry Nad,” Thalia gave her sister a soft smile, “I’m not going to force you to come with us if you're tired. Head back to Graunty's and rest, he showed me around when I visited Japan, it's only right I do the same here.”

Nadia puffed out her cheeks stubbornly, and mumbled something they couldn’t understand but Thalia took it as a green light.

“Are you up for the paparazzi outside, though?” Enquired Yurio, as he pulled out a pair of sunglasses, he had gotten used to them by now but the Kane Osments hadn’t been in the spotlight since their junior debut, being seen with him was bound to stir up some commotion.

“I’ll wait in here until you draw them away.” Concluded Nadia, clearly not pleased with her sister’s shenanigans. 

“What if we just left from the main audience exit?” Nathalia pointed out, “they won’t expect to see any competitors there.”

It was such an obvious solution Yurio doubted that such a thing would work. But then he looked at Nadia, eyeing her sister as if willing her plan to fail, for the whole thing to go up in smoke before it even begins and just return home with her. Even just annoying Nadia made Yurio feel alot better.

“Let's give it a try.” He sighed. How bad could it be?

Well apparently being chased across Toronto by rabid Yuri’s Angels members kind of bad.

It had started out relatively ok, with both Yurio and Thalia walking through the narrowing crowds with their hoods up they blended in pretty well. The problem was when a voice roared over the crowd;

“Wait!” Someone called from behind them, causing both teenagers to jump in surprise. “Isn’t that Yuri Plisetsky, the grand prix champion?”

Yurio cursed under his breath, turning his head to the source of voice, his hood falling back slightly as he did so, better revealing his face. Had that been Nadia? Had she just given them away?

“Busted!” Had Yelled Thalia, looking panicked as crowds around them entered frenzy as they realised a star of the competitions was in their midsts.

“Who's that girl with him!?” A teenage girl shrieked in outrage as Thalia pulled her hood further over her head.

“Run!” Was Yurio’s only word of advice as what remained of Yuri’s angels began to collect around them. 

They ran as fast they could, Thalia using one hand to stop her hood from falling as she heard the shrieks and snapping sounds of pictures being taken from the frantic girls behind them while occasionally using her free hand to grab Yurio’s wrist to lead him where they had to go.

The two teens only stopped when they had barreled into a tram, earning them a number of bizarre looks from the other passengers as Yurio tumbled into a vacant seat as he wiped the hair out of his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. Thalia landed on the seat across from his having validated two tickets for the trip. Her hair was a wild mess, her make up had smudged and she was heaving with laughter, it was then that Yurio realised he was laughing alongside her.

* * *

“So where are you taking me?” Grumbled Yurio as Thalia led him off the second tram they had caught. It had been a longer ride then he had anticipated and wherever Thalia had led him wasn’t very noteworthy, a normal street in Toronto lined with shops and apartment buildings, the sky was already a rosy colour and the CN tower, which had loomed over the stadium was quite some distance away. “Are we even still in Toronto?”

“Of course!” Thalia confirmed looking down at her phone, Yurio half expected her to be answering a text from Nadia, but from the way she rotated left and right, it seemed she was using a map to get around. 

“You’re lost, aren’t you?” Yurio grumbled, pulling his hood back over his head, half regretting ever agreeing to this outing.

“No, I'm not!” She quickly retorted. “It's just different getting her by public transport.”

Then she beamed as Yurio assumed she found the right path, began walking, glancing at her phone to make sure the directions matched, forcing Yurio to follow her lead.

“Where are we anyway?” Yurio enquired, “And how in the world did you find out about this place?”

“The general area is called Little Malta, a little community from a tiny, little island that moved here many generations back, my great great grandma was one of them. “ Thalia explained, “We come here with my great aunt at times, she still has friends in the area. And you were here for last year's quarterfinals weren’t you? I wanted to take you somewhere you hadn’t been yet.”

She was right, this wasn’t a place Yurio would ever have conisndered stopping. Well it was also the last place his fans would expect to look for him so that was a perk.

“It's here!” She suddenly stopped, looking up from her map before a rather old looking pastry shop, the facade was brightly coloured and on one side of the wall was a painting of what looked like the sea and and a high walled bastion, a large domed cathedral painted behind them. 

‘Little Malta Bakery’ the sign read, in a flourish of red and white colours. The lights were on inside but through the tinted windows it seemed that it was empty, empty places were not always the best sign of the best food from Yurio’s experience. 

But without hesitation Thalia pushed the door open, her arrival accompanied by a little chime. Yurio hasently followed behind her, from inside the bakery looked quant, with buckets of blossoming flowers lining the windows and a scattering of small round wooden tables. Behind the counter a man and woman were talking to each other in a language Yurio had never heard before, was that italian? Arabic? Some weird hybrid?

“Heya! What can I get for you today?” A rosy face of women in an apron greeted them at the counter. Behind her was a large menu with a selection of things Yurio had never even heard of. “First time?”

“No.” Said Thalia.

“Yes.” Admitted Yurio. “Is this payback for Japan?”

“Maybe?” Admitted Thalia laughing, remembering how clueless she had been about the Japanese menu that night. 

“You can just decide for me then.” Yurio waved her off, “There's nothing I particularly dislike.”

“Then grab a table, I’ll meet you in a moment.” Agreed Thalia already turning back to the lady and ordering a small list of things.

It's not like this place is packed, noted Yurio as he wandered to a table beside a large potted plant. As he waited Yurio looked quickly at his phone, a number of messages from Yakov and Victor covered his screen, what had gotten their knickers in a twist? He had told Yakov before he’d left that he was heading out but before Yurio could start reading the messages Thalia took the seat across from him, juggling two glasses in one hand, and two dark brown bottles in the other, it had an unusual name, with a lemon drawn on the label.

“The food won’t take too long, but I thought you'd like to try their local drink.” She explained placing a glass and bottle in front of Yurio. “It's a bit bitter though.” She warned as she poured the dark caramel liquid into her into her own glass. Curious , Yurio did the same and took a tentative sip. His eyes almost bugged at the unexpected bitterness … and yet it was somehow sweet?

“What do you think?” Enquired Thalia. “You can say if you don’t like it.”

“Trust me I would if I didn't.” Admitted Yurio as he set down the glass. “It's an interesting taste.”

“Is that good or bad?” Laughed Thalia

“I'll tell you once I finish the bottle.” He admitted.”So? What was the reason for dragging me to the middle of nowhere?”

“Don’t make it sound so weird.” Thalia shuddered at his words. “Don’t you ever just hang out with friends? Just for the fun of it?”

“I don’t have time for that.”

“Friends? Or fun?” Thalia enquired but before Yurio could answer the rosy cheeked women from before came with a tray of plates. 

“I’ll tell him what to do with the bread.” Confirmed Thalia as the women asked if they knew how this collection of things before them should be eaten. She handed each a plate with a large diamond shaped puff pastry and a plate with two little pots of what looked like olive oil and ketchup. In the center she placed a basket of fresh bread, steam still emitting from the slices. Thalia thanked her and the woman left, informing them if they needed anything else just to call. The first thing Thalia did was grab a slice of bread and spread the sauce, which she clarified was a sweetened type of tomato concentrate, on the bread’s surface with a knife. She then drizzled the olive oil onto the surface of her plate and wiped the tomato covered surface of the bread across her plate. She added salt and pepper, and proudly said “ _ Viola! _ ” when she was done.

It seemed simple enough as Yurio carefully did the same, though how could something so simple, make Thalia look so proud he didn’t know. He understood once he took a bite into the bread, the mixture of flavours was unbelievable. Thalia burst out laughing at his surprised look.

“Good right?” She laughed as he practically pushed the rest of the slice into his mouth.

Next was the little pastry, Thalia called it a ‘pastizz’ a small piece of fried dough filled with goat’s cheese that crumbled at the slightest touch. This was also warm and Yurio almost burnt his tongue on the filling. Once their plates were emptied the woman came once again to take them and deposit their dessert, a warm, date filled pastry Thalia called “Imqaret.”

For the most part the two ate in silence, enjoying the food, Thalia only speaking to explain something about what they were eating or to ask if Yurio was liking the food, she asked that  _ alot _ .

“I noticed your sister hasn’t messaged you since the stadium?” Observed Yurio as he contemplated if he should order another date pastry.

“Strangely, since I got back from Japan she’s gotten a little better. She’s picked up some mysterious project she won’t tell me about but I’m taking that as a sign that she’s getting better.” Though her tone, and what Yurio had seen at the stadium said that things weren’t perfect between the twins just yet.

“And your ice skating?” 

“I’m not going to push my luck with  _ that _ .” She admitted taking a sip of her drink. “Speaking of which, your performance today…”

Yurio’s mood instantly darkened, he had pushed that to the back of his mind, he was beyond disappointed in himself. 

“It was  _ okay _ …” She dragged out the last word, any other fan would have most likely squealed and said he was great, but Thalia wasn’t his usual fan, maybe having been in the competitions herself allowed her to view his routine in a different way. “Never thought you'd go with ‘freedom’ as your theme.”

“I felt inspired at the time.” He mumbled into his drink, making Thalia blush slightly as she realised what he was referring to.

“It was a beautiful dance, don’t get me wrong and maybe I'm a little bit more sensitive because of my own situation, but well… you haven’t found the freedom you're looking for, have you?”

Yurio was uncomfortably quiet, he wasn't like Yuuri or Victor, he didn’t talk about feelings or emotions and that nonsense. Those were his and his alone, why would he bother telling someone who wouldn’t understand?

Thalia gave a hollow laugh. “I’m not really one to talk.” She said looking down at her empty glass but then she looked up, smiling softly, her mismatched eyes were unnerving to see up close, Yurio heart stubbornly fluttered to see them, there was an unspoken sadness in them. 

“If you don’t want to order something else I think we should get going, you have a big day tomorrow, I don't want to see anything but your best Yuri.” She said brightening up and winking as she stood up.

Yurio pushed his chair back, she was right, he’d been out long enough. His phone buzzed once again, it had been going haywire since he’d arrived at the bakery.

“I am sorry to bother you.” A soft voice caused both Thalia and Yurio to turn their heads, a small rosy cheeked child no older than ten was standing beside their table nervously, there was no doubt she was at least related to the women who had been serving them. She was avoiding eye contact as she clutched what looked like a tablet to her chest. “Are you Yuri Plisetsky?”

She pronounced his surname wrong but she rotated her tablet to reveal a news article Yurio had no idea why a ten year old would be reading. Most of the screen was taken up by two things, one was a large hastily taken picture of Yurio and Thalia taken when someone had first realised it was Yurio who was hiding under the hood. Yurio looked naturally annoyed and Thaia startled at being revealed but it was the title that got the girl burning red. 

“Yuri Plisetsky: Mystery Sweetheart?”

Yurio cursed loudly in Russian.

  
  



	7. Little Wonders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: I won't pretend to understand the full complexities of creating a figure skating routine so I linked an actual performance that inspired the one written in the chapter.

“How long are you going to stay laughing at that picture, Victor?” Yuuri sighed as he stretched against the ice rink wall. It was early morning in Japan and all through the night Victor had been texting Yurio, teasing him about the mysterious pictures the paparazzi had posted. 

“I just… it's hilarious!” Victor wiped a tear from his eyes. “They are calling Nathalia Yurio’s 'mystery sweetheart', the whole world is speculating who she is.”

“That's because they only captured a portion of her face. If they'd got a picture of both her eyes...”

“Oh, but the paparazzi are loving all this!” Continued Victor, “Yurio’s fans, not so much, but they all want to know who she is! Some flame ignited in Japan? A model? Ohh! It's so tempting to tell them who it is… but I won't!” Quickly added Victor, seeing the disproving look in Yuri’s eyes. 

“I’m actually surprised you support those two so much. Thought you totally shipped him with Otabek.” Admitted Yuuri, sounding a little distracted as he stretched.

“Oh, Otabek’s a sweetheart, but can you imagine those two? That would be the scariest couple I'll ever see! No, I think Yurio needs someone to balance him out, you know what I mean? Like how you balance out my spontaneous tendencies?”

“Well tell that to Yurio’s fans, they honestly think Thalia’s stealing him away from the hero of kazakhstan.”

“Soo tempting…” Murmured Victor, looking intently at his phone.

“Victor….” Warned Yuuri, he didn’t know what Victor had in mind but he knew it couldn’t be anything good for the teens.

“That reminds me,” Victor sharply turned towards Yuuri, sliding towards him until the two were a hair’s breadth apart. “When are you going to stop calling me that?””

“Calling you what?” Yuuri stammered, noticing that a few of the competitors were looking at them.

“Victor…” The Russian skater said as if that were obvious. “Why don’t you call me Vitya? You call Yurio by his pet name, so why not me?”

“Well that's different...because Yurio and I have the same name ...” Yuuri began but Victor raised a slender finger to Yuuri’s lips, silencing him. 

“It can’t be because you’re shy?” Victor wondered in a low voice.

“Well… erm..” Yuuri stumbled upon his excuse.

“Why don’t we make a bet then?” Victor jumped back, his tone totally changing to one a lot more playful. “If I rank higher than you in the Quarterfinals, you have to start calling me Vitya. “

“Fine…” Sighed Yuuri, there was no use arguing with Victor when he was like this.

“And if you win…" Victor’s voice became more hushed as he took a confident step closer to Yuuri. “I’ll keep _that_ my little surprise.” Whispered Victor into Yuuri’s ear, making his face feel warm.

Victor smiled to himself at the reaction his words had caused. He really loved Yuuri, but he loved picking on him just as much.

* * *

“I see the little boy may finally be becoming a man?” Chris’s heavily accented voice sent an uncomfortable shiver down Yurio’s spine. Yurio instinctively spun and hissed like a startled cat.

“Don’t come so close to me, weirdo.” He snapped.

“Now Yurio, no need to be shy, we are all men here.” Continued Chris, putting his hands on his hips.

“I’m not being shy!” Complained Yurio.

“Then why keep the little Miss a secret?” Chris loomed in, uncomfortably close to Yurio’s face. “Are you worried she’d be swiped from under your nose?”

“Stop picking on him Chris.” Prichit, surprisingly, came to the rescue, walking out of the changing room, like Yurio had been doing when Chris had found him. The free skate was just starting but all anyone would talk about was that blasted picture. Surprisingly, neither Yakov nor Lillia scolded him much, though they didn’t need to, he had done enough of that himself.”Though Yurio, I don’t know how you didn’t bring her back stage with you, everyone is seriously curious about her.”

“There’s nothing to be curious about, she's just a girl I met a while back…” Yurio tried to defend himself but Chris wiggled his eyebrows.

“Just a girl huh?” The man said knowingly, “I have heard that story before.” And with a board stride, the man strolled to the rink.

“Don’t let them get to you.” Prichit smiled at the younger man, “The early stages of a relationship can be tough, especially for celebrities like you.”

“But it's not a relationship!” Yurio shouted after the Thai skater, why wouldn't anyone believe him? Thankfully, it seemed the news hadn’t reached his grandfather, at least he hadn’t mentioned anything when he’d called earlier on.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Yurio pulled it out-if it was another text from Victor he’d smash it against the wall. 

_ How's it going over there? _ It was a text from Thalia, she was ballsy, Yurio had to give her that. Even with the whole world trying to figure out her identity she had still come to the competition, her sister in tow.

_ Tolerable. _ Was his short answer.

_ Sorry. _ She answered, causing Yurio to roll his eyes, these Canadians were all over-apologetic, it wasn’t her fault this happened.  _ Good luck! We’ll be cheering for you, quietly, this time. _

With a satisfied nod, he stuffed the phone back in his pocket and walked to where Lilia and Yakov were silently waiting for him, his mind set, he had to do better this time.

Following the performance of a young Chinese performer, Yurio entered the rink. His hair had been left down that day, his competition suit glistening in the spotlight. A deep black full body leotard with contrasting golden, chain-like patterns crawling up one leg, across his chest and along his other arm. There was a moment of agitated silence as the female skaters picked up what remained on the ice and the presenter declared the previous skater’s score.

“Next up, is world champion Yuri Plisetsky from Russia.” The presenter began, as Yurio carefully skated to the center of the stage, the crowd, if possible, cheering even more loudly than yesterday. He found himself briefly scanning the crowd before him, but he forced his eyes closed in concentration, that was pointless, he wouldn’t be able to find her in this mass. “Yesterday Yuri’s routine stunned audiences, earning him a spot in second place, just short of Prichit in first. This year’s theme is 'freedom' and, for his free skate, he will be performing to Hans Zimmer’s, [“Now we are free.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo-0ORq8CzU&list=LLsT9L-IoVEjB5DFCh9npggQ&index=2&t=10s)

Yuri began with his head to the side, his arms in the required position but, as the music began, he lifted one hand over his head and began a slow single legged spin which he then evolved into a faster, quadruple spin. He swung his arms, allowing him to enter a double spin which emerged into a backward step sequence ending in a brief spread eagle along the edge of the rink. As the music progressed its slow, haunting tune, he performed his signature Biellman spin, which he then merged with a one leg spin, his knee pressed against his chest as he held his position to thunderous applause. The tone of the music suddenly changed, and the singer's voice became more staccato as he entered a step sequence to accompany the part, ending it with a quadruple toe loop and which led him to yet another step sequence. 

As the music intensified, he performed a triple lutz and elegantly landed into a 90 degrees one legged spin. As he slowed, he swiped one hand against the ice, as if using it to soften some unknown blow, but he quickly flowed into a step sequence and entered a combination triple toe- triple loop and entered another step sequence that ended in an arabesque spiral around the rink. From here he leaped into a combination, quad toe, quad salchow, cursing as the quad was forced into a triple as he landed on the ground but quickly got on his feet, spinning so low that, once again, both hands touched the ice as if he were bowing, only to rise into a quadruple flip and finish with an impressive spin.

Or at least, that's what the audience saw. As the music began, Yurio’s arms instinctively moved as they had been trained but his mind wandered to the message the song was trying to send. It had been one of those songs he’d heard without ever having actually seen the film and yet he could imagine the tale unfold before his eyes, of a man who had lost everything, forced to fight for a freedom forever just out of his grasp, only to achieve it with his final breaths. For the gladiator, his final freedom had come in death, finally to rest in peace with his beloved wife and child. But what was the freedom Yurio searched for? Since he was a boy, shackled by his own expectations and those of his family, what was the freedom he sought? 

To laugh for a moment, as if the worries of the world would just melt away? To skate freely, without his parents expectations limiting his time left on the ice?

It was a brief thought that came to him in the form of a memory- of fleeing from the cameras and fans, laughing as he did so. And in that movement, for the briefest of moments, the chains that tied Yurio down loosened as if one of the kinks had bent, and allowing him to reach a little further, to draw freedom ever closer. But, as the music died, he was pulled back, the bars of his cage locked once again. However the audience roared at his performance, they had tasted his freedom, seen the young prodigy free from his restraints, ever so briefly, and they hungered to see what would happen if he were ever set free. 

Struggling slightly after the routine, Yurio skated to the side of the rink where Lilia and Yakov were waiting for him.

“Better.” Was Yakov's only comment.

“You have tasted freedom now, Yuri.” Lilia said, looking down at the youth. “Now it is up to you to grasp it.”

Yurio practically collapsed into the Kiss and Cry, one of his coaches sitting on either side of him. He was in disbelief when the presenter gave him his score, placing him in first place.

“Way to go, Yuri!” Even through the cheers, a single, unmistakeable, voice sounded, clear as crystal. That's when he spotted her, Thalia, waving a little Russian flag today, and jumping up and down beside her pouting sister.

“Yuri! Congratulations.” Yakov said, planting a proud hand on his pupil’s shoulders. “You are going to the semifinals.”


	8. Father's Wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Themes of intolerance towards homosexuals and domestic abuse but not explicit.

“Without me to guide you, you’ve been slacking off ,haven’t you, Vitya?” Scolded Yakov as he, Lilia and Yurio entered the hotel reception in Tokyo. An inexperienced coach would have collapsed from tiredness at having two competitors competing in different countries but Yakov looked fresh as a daisy, even after a 12 hour flight. 

“ No, no! I have been training, I swear.” Jumped back Victor, placing one hand behind his head.

Yakov didn’t seem to believe him but it was late, and the ice rink was closing, so there was nowhere he could force Victor to practice the night before the competitions.

“ Congratulations on taking the gold in Canada.” Yuuri smiled at the younger skater.

“ I don’t need your support, little piggy.” He spat, taking his keycard from the receptionist and marching towards the elevators without another word.

“It’s been a while since he’s called me that…” If this had been an anime, a large sweat droplet would have appeared at the side of Yuuri’s head.

“Yurio is particularly angry today,” Observed Victor, bright eyes following the youth as he entered the elevator. “Did he have a lover's quarrel with Thalia?”

“ His mother called him after the competitions yesterday.” Lilia explained solemnly, her intense eyes following the elevator doors as they closed. “She wasn’t appreciative of the press swarming her company in light of the picture’s release.”

“Ah, good old Natasha, always made me feel all warm inside whenever she was around.” Victor said sarcastically, “If she were ever around.”

“Yurio is not on good terms with his mother?” Yuri asked, if he was being honest, outside his grandfather Yuuri hadn’t heard anything about the youth’s family.

“We don’t divulge private information on our competitors.” Loyally said Yakov, folding his arms.

“Nor his father.” Continued to explain Victor, causing Yakov to slap his hand to his forehead, where had he gone so wrong with training Victor? He just didn’t listen. “Never cared much for skating although they don’t mind paying for his training to keep him quiet but, with a look like that they probably threatened to stop his skating, again.”

Yuuri didn’t know what to say, Yurio had always seemed like a prodigy, a being born with confidence and enough skill to back him up, he never thought his skating depended so flimsily on the will of his parents. Yuri’s own, although somewhat clueless on the sport, had supported him through it all. Yuuri found himself eyeing Victor curiously, he too had never spoken of his family and, in all the skating career, Yuuri could never quite remember any family member ever appearing at a competition.

“That’s enough, Vitya.” Scolded Lilia, “ Rest, the two of you. Focus on your routines for tomorrow.”

The first day of the Tokyo Skate went by without a hitch, the audience giving Victor a standing ovation simply for entering the rink, welcoming him back as a competitive skater. The press, too, had eyes only for Victor. When asked how it felt to be back, he’d smiled politely and say that he was both excited and eager to be back on the rink both supporting Yuuri as his coach and a fellow competitor.

It had been a while since Yuuri haf seen Victor smile so much, like a fish returned to its element. The results of the first day were pretty much as expected with Victor’s ‘Once Upon a December’ placing first and Yuri’s ‘Going the Distance’ placing him in third, just below Italy’s Michele Crispino (whose sister strangely had been absent from the performance).

“Just focus on landing your jumps today, not adding more quads.” Instructed Victor during warm up on the day of the free skate. Yuuri nodded his head in understanding, as he remembered the jump he had missed in the previous performance. “If we stay in the top three we should…”

“Victor!” A loud voice echoed from behind the rink, causing both men to turn and see the young american skater, Leo di Inglese skating towards them.

“Morning.” Yuuri greated smiling at the man who was in fourth place in the current rankings.

“I saw the message online, what is this big surprise video that’s going to be uploaded today?” The boy asked excitedly.

“Surprise video?” Victor tilted his head, confused.

“Yeah, it says a big mystery video of Victor Nikiforov will be uploaded today during the competitions.” Leo explained.

“Oh! Now I’m intrigued!” Admitted Victor.

“Sounds either fake or like bad news to me.” Sighed Yuuri, sounding worried but Victor paid him no heed. Instead he raised his hand to his chin in thought.

“I doubt it's a video of my experimental days…” He wondered aloud.

“Now that’s not something you'd want anyone to see!”

“Vitya! What are you doing goofing around with your competitors!” Roared Yakov from behind the observers wall. “Start your warm up!”

Warm up ended and the competition began in reverse order of the standings and, with each performance that passed through the rink, the clock ticked closer to 11.

“You’ve got this!” Whispered Victor, pressing his forehead against Yuuri’s. Yuuri’s hair had been slicked back as usual and his leotard was a collection of different shades of blue with a speckling of glitter that shone in the light. 

“Next is Yuuri Katsuki, 24, from Japan. Yesterday he impressed the judges, will he continue to exceed expectations and overtake his coach, Victor Nikiforov, currently in first place? This is [Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBjzTuJRVlg&list=LLsT9L-IoVEjB5DFCh9npggQ&index=3&t=317s).”

Yuuri took a deep breath as he lowered his head, his palms upwards as the music began to play. Folding and spreading his arms before him as the deep solemn start of the concerto began and instantly entered a dance sequence. His first jump was a triple axel, which he landed beautifully, a good start to the routine. Followed by a step sequence, his hands rising and falling before him, looking up to the sky, searching for answers that eluded him. Yuuri then nailed a triple flip - triple loop combination accompanied by yet more cheering. In this performance, Victor had focused not only on the jumps, but also on incorporating as many step sequences as possible, something that Yuuri had always prided himself in, only interrupting the flow to perform a triple lutz and ending the sequence in a one- legged spin. Unable to perform a Bielman spin like Yurio, he brought his knee as close to his head as he could before lowering his spin so his whole body had folded upon itself. A brief step sequence followed as the music quieted to almost silence as Yuuri continued to spin. 

The second part of the routine was indicated by a change in the tone of the music, to one a little lighter, as if the reasons for the struggle and turmoil had been discovered. He spread his arms as he circled around the diameter of the rink, building up speed for the next jump, a double axel, triple toe loop. He stumbled but quickly adjusted himself, but missed the loop and continued his circuit around the rink, building up speed for a triple salchow which he achieved with a flourish and loud applause. The music intensified as Yuuri moved his arms in time, building up speed, his next jump being a combination triple flip, double loop, double loop. Victor punched the air in excitement, even during training Yuuri’s success rate was below acceptable, but Yuuri performed it with an unexpected calmness. 

He performed another triple salchow and leapt into a spin, one leg raised 90 degrees and his arm crossed behind his back only to lower his center of gravity to continue into a sitting spin. It was for sequences like this that Yuuri’s impressive stamina really shon, even long time champions like Victor would have found difficulty keeping up such a flow in the last part of the routine and have the energy to enter a bizarre, staccato like step sequence, during which Yuuri’s blades touched the ice for only the briefest of moments. He swept the tips of his fingers across the ice’s surface to finish slightly off center to raging applause.

Yuuri’s heart was pounding as he carefully skated to the edge of the rink where Victor was waiting for him. Victor hugged his student in pleasure, “That was beautiful,”

“But the jump!” Yuuri protested.

“We’ll have time to correct that for the semifinals.” Winked Victor, leading Yuuri to the Kiss and Cry where the presenter soon declared that, not only had Yuuri achieved a personal best, he was currently in first place. Victor’s eyes gleamed with pride, he was so happy, even if it were just a little victory he wanted to kiss Yuuri but thought better, remembering what he had told the reporters about abstaining, he really should have double thought his words. It was while they were still in the Kiss and Cry that the clock struck 11 without them realising. 

The little screen behind them flickered away from the current standings to instead show a shaky video, like one taken using a camera phone, much to the surprise of everyone in the stadium as, for some reason, it even appeared across the large screens used to show the performers. 

The screen was filled with the view of a man in his late sixties, sitting at a kitchen table. He had a stern, unforgiving look with years of manual labour having left their mark in the wrinkles that lined his cold, dark eyes. He appeared almost bold, his hair having thinned and receded to the point that small tufts were all that remained.

Victor jumped to his feet, as if the seat had suddenly electrocuted him, “ _Otets_?” He whispered, his eyes not leaving the face on the screen.

“Otets?” Yuuri had never heard that name before but there was an underlying terror in the skater’s voice. “Who is that?” Begged Yuuri, standing and clasping his fiance's hand, they trembled within his own and they felt icely cold, but Victor could not remove his eyes from the screen as an interview in Russian, but with english subtitles, unfolded before his eyes.

“Could you please state your full name?” The interviewer began, it sounded low and mechanical, like the person was speaking through a mask, distorting his voice.

“Sergey Ivanov.” The men answered, coughing heavily as he answered.

“And what is your relationship to Victor Nikiforov?”

The man paused before spitting in disgust, “I am his father.”

Gasps of surprise spread across the audience as Victor’s face paled. Yuuri tried to capture his attention, to force him to look away from the screen. Victor had never spoken about his family before about his life before winning the junior championship. Yuuri had always wondered but never asked and, as the colour drained from Victor's face, he was glad he never had.

“Shut it off!” Yelled Yuuri to the reporters that were standing, agawk, before the screen.

“They can’t!” Yelled Yakov, running to the Kiss and Cry, pushing people away, “They say it has been hacked from the outside, security is trying to regain control but until then…”

Yuuri cupped Victor's face within his hands. “Victor look at me.” He began, trying to make him look away.

“To confirm, you mean Victor Nikiforov, the champion ice skater?” The interviewer continued. 

“Yes.” The man spat again.

“So why does he go by Nikiforov?”

“Because he is no man, not man enough to use the name my father gave me.” The man explained cruelly. “ Shameful! He dances like a woman, wears dresses and makeup as women do. He also loves men as women do...” 

“Victor, please look at me.” Yuuri shouted, he could see it in his eyes, an indescribable terror and, for those few minutes, Victor felt like that boy once again, the boy that had cowered in his room as his father hurt his mother and he could do nothing to stop him.

“Vitya! Please look at me!” Yelled Yuuri, using the name Victor had alway wanted him to use. It distracted him just enough for his eyes to dart from the screen to the distressed Yuuri, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. That had caught his attention, even if it was just for a brief moment, but Yuuri was determined to keep it, to stop him from returning to that place of horror Yuuri couldn’t reach. And, with Victor’s face still cupped in his hands, Yuuri kissed him, begging Victor not to fall back to whatever had frightened him so, allowing his lips to send the message Victor’s ears refused to hear- that Yuuri loved him, that Yuuri was there besides, that Victor was not alone in whatever terror he was reliving.

In the control room, the panicked security did the only thing they could do. They had never prepared for the possibility of the competition's system being hacked, it was a figure skating contest, they had assumed the biggest issue they’d have to deal with was crowd control! However, in-light of the distressing video that plagued their screens they did the one thing they could, they plunged the stadium into darkness, terminating the video from the screens along with the rest of the electricity.

But the rest of the world continued to watch in horrified silence, finally understanding why, until that moment, Victor Nikiforov had avoided ever mentioning his father.

In the hotel not far from the ice rink, a mobile phone had been left behind, the interview still playing. But it was not the contents of the interview that had forced Yurio to run to the ice rink where Victor and Yurio were, he had noticed something the others had yet not. In the corner, so faint it was barely a watermark was a single word, telling everyone just who had uploaded the video.

N.E.K.O


	9. The Circle of Life

“Are you certain of this Vitya?” Yakov inquired, less than an hour following the video’s release. It had been a horrible mess since then. When the stadium had been plunged into darkness, the audience had shrieked, some had even attempted to leave their seats but the emergency lights were on within a second, thankfully the screens did not fall under emergency power control. Since then, the stadium had been evacuated from both spectators and competitors except for those left in the manager’s office- the manager himself, the head of security and the judges, along with Yuuri, Yakov, Michele and Victor.

Victor nodded his head confidently, although the video had unnerved him beyond anything Yuuri had ever seen before, he had regained his composure surprisingly fast, though he could still see a slight tremor in his hand. “If Michele is up for it, I think we should complete the men's free skate, today, as planned.”

“Give us some time to warm up and I'm good to go.” Admitted Michele, “But are  _ you _ sure you’ll be able to perform? That must have been quite a…”

“I want to prove to whoever posted that video that their petty actions didn't affect me or my skating.” He quickly cut in. “That they can't hurt me with just some ugly words.”

The manager sighed in his chair, adjusting his large square glasses as he looked up at the small group before him.

“There won’t be any audience though…”

“That’s ok, the only audience we need are the judges.” Jumped in Michele, looking at the collection of internationals chosen to judge the competitions here in Tokyo.

“Headquarters has already been informed of the situation here in Japan.” A spanish woman with long blond hair and olive skin informed them. “They are willing to postpone the final two skates given the situation however, if both skaters agree and believe their performance has not been affected by today’s events, we will judge the remaining competitors fairly and objectively, according to the regulations.”

As the group before him continued making plans it appeared to Yuuri as if he were seeing the whole thing being played out off a screen, although his body was there, the rest of him wasn't. Yuuri had never seen Victor like that and yet, here he was, already talking about competing. In the whirlwind of events that had followed the blackout the two had not had any time to talk, Yuuri wanted to be there for him like Victor had been there for him but, as he watched on in silence Yuuri couldn’t help wonder, was Victor encouraging this whirlwind to avoid talking about what had happened?

There was a buzz from the head of security’s walkie talkie.

“Please don’t tell me there 's more trouble.” Sighed the manager, massaging his brow, the day’s events having tried him out.

“Just a commotion by the entrance, some kid claiming to be Yuuri Plisetsky is demanding to be let into the stadium.” The guard explained.

“Just tell your men to remove him from the premises.” Began the manager.

“Actually, that may be Yuuri Plisetsky.” Victor admitted sheepishly as Yakov face palmed, just imagining the rukus his young pupil was causing outside.”I'd suggest letting him in before he really starts yelling.”

“Let him in!” Demanded the manager, causing the head of security to jump as he began barking orders at his man.

“Then shall we say we’ll continue this competition in an hour?” Enquired Michele, asking the judges.

“That’s ample time for me.” Confirmed Victor and the judges nodded their head in agreement. 

Following the meeting the small group filed out of the manager’s office, each person already focusing on their next task.

“I’m feeling so hungry.” Victor complained “I wonder if Yakov will let me…”

But Victor’s voice trailed off as he felt Yuuri grip his lower arm, stopping his movement as the rest of the group moved further and further away. 

“Are we going to pretend that didn’t just happen?” Yuuri whispered in a voice so low that Victor could have pretended not to hear. 

“I see no reason to.” Victor declared. “It is the past, I'd rather think of the future, wouldn’t you, Yuuri?

“That's not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“That man is your father Victor!”

“I haven’t considered him my father in over 18 years.” Victor retorted, tartly.

“But that's what I mean! There’s a whole side of you that is a complete mystery to me!” Yuuri’s voice echoed throughout the empty corridor. “Do you not trust me enough ?”

Victor raised a gentle hand to Yuuri's cheek. “You are the person I trust the most in this world.” Victor declared, his voice almost raw with emotion.

“Then talk to me Victor!” Yuuri begged, clutching the hand against his cheek in both of his.

They stood in silence like that, looking into each other's eyes, but Victor looked away first, lowering his hand as he continued to walk through the corridor.

“I must go prepare for my routine.” He said, solemnly leaving Yuuri with not a single answer.

* * *

Victor felt a rough kick against his back 

‘Oh! Hello Yurio!” Victor casually greated as he turned to see a grumpy looking teen standing behind him.

“Where’s the pork cutlet bowl?” Yurio growled, looking around as if expecting Yuuri to appear from the shadows. “I didn’t expect him to leave your side today.”

“Well, he wasn’t the one leaving.” Lightly commented Victor, returning to his stretching, Michele’s routine would soon start, he had to keep his head in the game.

“Pork cutlet bowl didn't know ?” Yurio asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wall as Victor continued to stretch

“Still haven’t told him much else.” Victor admitted, Yurio didn’t ask why not, for the boy knew the feeling of not wanting to bring something out into the light for, once you do, there is no hiding it back in darkness.

“Parents really suck, don’t they?” Observed Yurio.

“Ours definitely do.” Lightly laughed Victor and the two russians stood in silence. 

“You should find the pork cutlet bowl.” Finally said Yurio as he kicked off the wall and began to make his way to the rink. “He’s not like your turd of a dad, he actually wants to be here.”

“Oh! Was that actually some mature advice from my dear Yurio?” Teased Victor, realising that the youth was right. “Could it be Ms Kane Osment is whispering in your ear, telling you what to say?”

Yurio made a loud ‘TSK’ sound. “I don’t need anyone to tell me what to say.” He grumbled, but, coincidence, there was a message from the girl waiting to be read. She had sent a number since Lilia had joined them at the stadium, disapprovingly, handing him the device he had so carelessly left behind.

_ Are you sure the subtitles actually are what he’s saying? _ She kept asking, which was a weird question to begin with but Thalia was a strange girl. 

Unfortunately, the subtitles were not lying. He pocketed his phone as he entered the observation section around the rink, he’d speak to Victor about N.E.K.O after his performance, he had enough on his mind as is. 

* * *

The conclusion of the Tokyo skate was one of the strangest ever occurring in history. The stadium had been empty except for a few competitors, coaches and the judges. No presenter spoke through the speaker and the screens had been kept off, to prevent another repeat of the hacking incident that had initially caused all this trouble. A single camera man was permitted to join them, more to create an official record of the event rather than for publicity.

Victor had wandered into the observation section of the rink, midway though Michele's routine, he could see the small collection gathered, all but Yuuri that is.

He hadn’t seen him since he’d left him in the corridor after the meeting with the rink manager. Victor would have been furious too if he'd been left behind like that, especially if all he had been trying to do was help the person he cared for. 

“Your head is not into it today, Vitya.” Sighed Yakov, the coach would have preferred if his skater had opted for the postpontion, to have time to recuperate, but Victor had always been hard headed, since he’d first met him as a boy and it seemed it would never change.

“Don’t worry Yakov,” Victor attempted a smile. “I’ll leave them all speechless.”

And with that, Michele’s routine ended in silence, no thunderous applause or showering of gifts. The italian quietly skated to the edge where his coach and his sister were waiting for him. Sala had been in Tokyo for her own competitions, promising to give her brother space as they had discussed the previous year, but, given the current situation, she had felt it was her job to be there, supporting her brother, now more than ever. 

The trio sat in the Kiss and Cry, the camera zooming on their faces momentarily before rotating to the spanish judge from before as she stood up and, through a hand mic, read out Michele's score, putting him in second just below Yuuri.

Victor entered the rink, giving the stadium one final sweep. A single braid had been braided into his hair, stopping his bangs form obscuring his vision. His costume was a beautiful merging of reds, oranges and gold, the colours one would expect to see stain the savannah at dawn. However, a dark specking of glitter shon in the light, indicating the delicate line between night and day during the time, as the last stars tried to shine out against the rising sun.

“So you really aren’t coming, Yuuri?” Victor whispered to himself, closing his eyes as he began to adjust his position.

“Good luck Victor!!” The unexpected call caused his head to snap sideways, back towards where Yakov and the others were watching, he saw Yuuri leaning over the rink wall, his call still echoing around the stadium. 

Yuuri wanted to smile as he wished Victor good luck, but he couldn’t. Victor had always been like a god to Yuuri, growing up, a being whose back was turned to him out of reach. But Yuuri had learnt to love him, not as a god, but as a human being, one that smiled and laughed but also felt pain. He had hoped one day to stand beside him, to be the hand to help him stand, the ear to listen or even the shoulder to cry on. But, if for now, Victor chose to stand alone then so be it. Yuuri decided he would wait in the sidelines and be there for him when he really needed him.

Victor smiled softly, as he lowered his body into an almost kneeling position, the air about him changing and then, without any further delay the music [began](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ra2MMXLiE&list=LLsT9L-IoVEjB5DFCh9npggQ&index=7&t=0s).

Victor raised his arms, and gracefully spun into a stand and entered a slow dance movement in time to the opening tune. As the song entered its first crescendo the skater began to spin, slow and in time to the music before entering a reverse step sequence. Victor lowered his centre of gravity, with one knee sliding across the ice, his momentum pushing him backwards as he rose into his first jump, a quadruple toe loop he performed flawlessly, his arms moving to the flow of the music. A quadruple flip was next, his signature move incorporated into the first part of his routine. It was unusual for Victor to bring out so many quads into his first performance of the season, he had often been told by Yakov and told Yuuri that it was ideal to peak during the finals but that day, the few people seeing his dance knew that this performance was difference, Victor Nikiforov was not just dancing to win but to prove to the world and to all those that doubted him that their hate could not stop him. 

He performed a long spiral around the rink in an arabesque position, with a posture so perfect not even Lillia couldn’t reprimand him, not even the slight wobble in his movement as he swept his arms to enter another spin, finishing in a triple loop- triple toe combination as the music slowed and he entered a step sequence. The triple axel with a back counter entrance was next and upon landing he knelt slightly, allowing his fingers to caress the ice. 

Victor had openly confided in Yuuri that his stamina was severely lacking when compared to either Yuri, opting to focus all his jumps in the first half of his routine while focusing on his performance in the second. But for that particular performance Victor kept going, fighting the fatigue that threatened to slow his movement, his momentum and speed never ceasing as the music hit another slow crescendo leading to a  quad toe-triple toe combination. Not even a hair had come undone as he landed, moving to the music as he lowered his arms purposely allowing them to pivot him in a circle and slow his speed accordingly, each movement he made calculated. He ended the rotation in a static one legged kneeling position, one hand raised to the sky before rising once again with the final crescendo, his body unceasing as he entered the dance sequence to perform the final jump of the routine, another quad toe-triple toe combination, spinning in time to the music and ending in a split, just to show off his flexibility.

For those few moments, Victor had not simply been a dancer on the ice but had become the music personified, the very essence of the song. Yurio had been called a beautiful monster but no words could describe Victor Nikiforov.

The small group applauded, for not a single jump had been missed, not a single step out of place. But the events of the day were finally catching up to Victor as he almost collapsed trying to leave the rink.

“I’ve got you.” Gasped Yuuri, catching the falling man and helping him on his feet.

“You always do.” Victor whispered looking up at Yuuri with a soft, tired smile. “After the competition, I’ll tell you everything.”

And, on still wobbly feet, Victor let go of Yuuri and almost collapsed into the Kiss and Cry with some help from Yakov.

“Those quads…” Began Yakov.

“I know, I should have left them for the final.” Sighed Victor, used to be scolded at the Kiss and Cry.

“... were a work of art.” Finished Yakov, stunning Victor with the compliment.

For a few moments the cameraman focused on the two before a cough from behind directed his attention to the judges’ platform. The spanish judge was already standing, reading out Victor's score without hesitation, placing him in first place, with a solid 5 points above Yuuri. The final standing were Michele Crispino in third, Yuri Katsuki in second and Victor Nikiforov in first. As results stood thus far, Yuri, Yurio and Victor would be heading to the semifinals.

“Congratulations, Vitya!” Cheered Yuuri, remembering the bet he had now officially lost, causing Victor to beam even more broadly.


	10. Once Upon a December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Domestic Violence but not explicit

Victor described Sergey Ivanov as a hard man. His wife, Anya, was seven years his junior. She was a kind woman, who turned sickly soon after their marriage. Sergey worked to earn the money for her medications and turned to alcohol when he had learnt his wife would not get better. By some miracle, they had a healthy baby boy, but the pregnancy and birth had worsened Anya’s condition but to the woman, Victor had become the centre of her world and she couldn’t have been happier. To Sergey the boy had just shortened his wife’s life further. 

Sergey resented his son for that, and with monetary pressure building, as well as his drinking habits, they produced a violent mix. Anya would hide away Victor during such episodes, always in a different place where, in his drunken haze, Sergey would never find him. More often than not, however, his wife would become the target of his rage instead. 

That all changed days before Victor's tenth birthday. Yakov, still married to Lilia at the time, was visiting Victor’s home town for a training camp. Victor’s class happened to be at the same rink and the coach was impressed the instant he saw Victor skate, like an unrefined diamond waiting to be harvested. Yakov had spoken to Victor’s teacher, proposing the possibility of taking on the young boy as his pupil. The teacher had sent Victor home with a note, informing his parents of the offer.

Not even Anya could have anticipated the angry rage Sergey fell into. Victor had escaped to his room while his parents argued. His mother stopped Sergey before he could hurt their son but they left their home that night never to return, catching the last train to St Petersburg. There, Anya insisted Victor start skating under Yakov, knowing how much her son loved to dance on the ice. Yakov took him under his wing like his own son and Anya found a job despite her condition, making enough to fund Victor's training and providing him with a happier life than he had ever known before. However, the medical fees were also harder to cover without his father's help. 

That year Victor won a small local tournament and, with the prize money, he managed to help with the fees. From there, Victor strived for bigger competitions, under the name Victor Nikiforov, opting to use his mother’s maiden name rather than his father’s, the money going to his mother’s medications. By sixteen he’d won enough to not only buy his the medication but for them to also live a comfortable life.

His mother smiled and laughed more than he’d ever seen her before, for Victor was her life and she always claimed his skating was the only thing she needed. However, her sickness took her before he won his first Grand Prix final.

“You look a lot like her.” Observed Yuuri, looking at the old crumpled picture Victor had given him from his wallet. She had a soft, kind face, with large blue eyes and long silver hair, both the same shade as Victor’s. He could see the same smile as Victor’s, as she tried to cover her face when Victor had tried to take this candid photo of her. 

“I know.” Agreed Victor, who was sitting on the opposite bed from Yuuri's in the hotel room. “I’m glad my appearance never reminded her of that man.”

“I think,” Began Yuuri, standing to sit on the bed beside Victor, “That wouldn’t have mattered to her.”

Victor smiled sadly while taking the photograph from Yuuri. “You know she never missed a performance, even at the very end? My skating made her happy, and that made me happy. I was skating for her long before I began skating for myself.”

“I wish I could have met her.” Yuuri confessed, sliding closer to Victor.

“I think she really would have liked you.” Admitted Victor. “On days when she was well she’d chase Yurio around for a hug, calling him a little Russian kitten. He used to complain but I know he secretly used to love them.”

Yuuri let out a soft laugh at the image. “I wonder if she’d have a nickname for me…”

“Probably something to do with pork cutlet bowls.” Victor let out a low chuckle as he continued to look at the old photograph. 

Yuuri turned slightly and with gentle hands caressed Victor's cheek, wiping a tear that had escaped. Shakily, Victor raised his own hand to his cheek so it was covering Yuuri’s and twisted his head slightly so he could kiss Yuuri’s gold ring, there were more tears in his eyes as he looked at Yuuri.

“Thank you for telling me Vic…” But Yuuri caught himself hastily. “Thank you for telling me, Vitya.”

And he leaned in to kiss Victor ,gently, allowing the warmth of their embrace to ward off the chilling ghosts of the past from that distant December night.


	11. Wayward Sons

The events of the Tokyo skate were not easily forgotten, the paparazzi had hounded the Hatsuki Hot Spring Resort and the Ice Palace, most begging for more details about Victor’s father, others still shadowing Yurio to figure out the identity of the mystery girl.

“My father and I are estranged, unfortunately, as you can see from the video. He never approved of my lifestyle.” Was Victor's consistent answer.

Yurio would politely tell them to buzz off. 

But as October shifted to November, bringing with it winter winds and a showering of crimson coloured leaves the three skaters trained tirelessly in preparation for the semifinals, Yuri would be traveling to Krakow, Poland, alone, while Victor and Yurio were traveling home, to St Petersbourg.

“Are you going to be okay on your own, Yuuri?” Victor asked as the duo waited at the airport departures.

“Yes, Vitya.” Sighed Yuuri, for the hundredth time, “Minako is coming with me, so I’ll be fine. And your competitions finish before mine, so you’ll arrive on my first day.”

“I just don’t want a repeat of last year.” Victor was sounding like a broken record as he stirred sugar into his coffee. The couple had decided to kill some time at the little cafe situated in the departures section of the airport. More accurately, they were waiting for Minako to arrive.

“It won’t.” Promised Yuuri, taking a sip of his tea. “This time will be different.”

‘Good, because I want to see you at the finals both as your coach and as a fellow competitor.” Victor said slyly.

“You should focus on your own competitions then.” Said a familiar, slightly tired voice.

“Hello Minako.” Victor smiled up at the ballet teacher and all the bags she had just lugged to their table.Yuuri mentally sighed, could no one pack light?. “We ordered you a scone but you took so long we got hungry and ate it.”

“How very nice of you.” She answered sarcastically.

“You better check those bags in, I think your gate is going to be called soon.”

“Here, let me help!” Yuuri quickly stood from his chair as the woman wobbled on her feet as she hooked all her bags along her arms and grabbed her luggage.

“No no, enjoy your drinks, I’ve got this…” She said through gritted teeth.

“If you're sure…” Yuuri said, retaking his seat as Minako’s inner self yelled at him that chivalry was dead.

“Though she’s right, Vitya, “Yuuri continued, addressing Victor. “How do you feel about your competition?”

“Relaxed.” He replied coolly, “A little excited to be competing against Yurio, and to tease him a little, I heard Ms Kane Osment will be there supporting us.”

“And excited to be going home?” Yuuri prompted.

“Hmmmm.” Victor said, sipping his coffee, it was still too hot to drink, “I haven't been to Russia since I became your coach, and we'll be skating near my old rink at St Petersburg so that should be interesting. I wonder, if I stumble upon an old lover, would you get jealous, Yuuri?”

“As long as you make it in time for my performance…” Yuuri left the rest of his sentence hanging as he casually sipped his tea, he was getting better at handling Victor’s teasings, at times.

“Yuuri!” Victor whined.

There was a mechanical chime as a voice over the loudspeaker informed the travelers that the gate for the connection flight to Krakow, Poland had opened.

“I better get going.” Yuuri said, drinking the last of his tea as he spotted Minako struggling to lift up her luggage at the check in.

“Wait! Before you go!” Victor jumped to his feet, hitting the table and almost knocking over his coffee as he did so.

“What?” Yuuri looked around expecting to have forgotten something. 

Victor leaned in over the table and kissed him. “Have a safe flight” He whispered into the kiss.

“Same to you, tomorrow.” Yuuri quickly said, turning red as a couple of girls in a nearby table giggled at their antics. And with that, the skater marched towards where Minako was waiting, turning every few paces to see if Victor was still there, he was, up until the loudspeaker declared that Yuuri’s flight had started boarding.

* * *

“Mr Plisetsky there is a lady at the reception desk requesting to talk to you.” A security guard informed Yurio a few days later as he impatiently waited for the rink to open for warm up, Victor was leaning against the door beside him, doing the same.

“Oh?” Victor raised a questioning eyebrow at the youth. “Could this be Ms Kane Osment having come to wish you luck in person? You really should have offered her a visitor’s pass, she did come all the way from Canada to see you compete.”

Yurio scoffed, irritated. “And why would I do that?” Truth be told he had offered to do just that a few weeks ago when Thalia had first told him that her parents had surprised her and her sister with a trip to Russia for their birthday. But she had politely declined saying she didn’t want to leave her sister alone in the stands while her parents were out sightseeing. If it really was Thalia, it was kinda weird of her to call for him at the reception though.

“Well? Are you going to keep her waiting?” Teased Victor.

“Then why don’t  _ you _ let her in?” Yurio grumbled back.

“Actually, she’s insisting you come to her, immediately.” The guard explained, sheepishly. 

Yurio frowned slightly, that didn’t sound like Thalia much.

“Fine.” He spat, kicking off the wall and allowing the guard to escort him towards the reception. Since the incident in Tokyo, the security of the competitions had been increased, especially here in St Petersburg where Victor was competing, N.E.K.O had already targeted him twice after all.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Victor called.

“I don’t need you to hold my hand!” Yurio growled, choosing to ignore any other tauntings Victor sent his way. 

“Mother?” Yurio stopped in his tracks as he saw the woman waiting within the crowded reception area. Natasha Plisetsky had never, not once in her life, ever entered any form of sports stadium, she associated such places with sweat and stinks and people with too much time on their hands watching some form of ball being passed from one person to another in some overly regulated way. Natasha Plisetsky did not fit in at the Ice rink. She was an older woman than one would expect with a son still in his teens, her silky blond hair reached just past her shoulders, her dark brown eyes focusing on her son the moment he entered the room. She tugged at the waist coat of her dark blue pants suit as she confidently strode towards me.

“You must have plenty of time before you game to leave me waiting this long out here.” She said in greeting.

“It is a performance, not a game.” Yurio sighed, correcting his mother. He had no doubt she knew the difference, but she didn’t really care enough to correct herself.

“Yes, well I’m running late for a meeting…”

“Then what are you doing here, mother?” Yurio began counting to 10, better get a head start before she answered.

“Board meeting with the head of the sub branches, your father stayed in Moscow to supervise things there.”

Of course, she’d never have taken time out of her schedule to see his performance. 

“So what is it you want from me, mother? “ Yurio clarified, the last he had spoken to her had been when she’d called to complain about his grades, what had he done so wrong this time that he’d been cursed with her actual presence, something that hadn’t happened in years?

“You will be staying in Russia after your show here in St Petersburg is over.” She declared, tartly.

“Huh?” Yurio’s face scrunched up as he said the word. “Why? I’ve been keeping my grades up and you promised I could keep skating until university, I've got almost another year! You can’t do this!”

“I very well can, you are still a minor and I am your mother. You’ve built up quite the reputation, the paparazzi have even made it to our office doors! Canoodling with women in Canada? And that amateur nonsense that has to do with the NEGO organisation?”

“N.E.K.O!” Yurio quickly corrected.

“Your father and I have spent more than two decades building a desired image for our company and your actions, and those of the people associated with you, are reflecting badly on us.”

“But you can’t stop me from skating! You can’t stop me from leaving Russia!” Yurio blurted out loudly, attracting the attention of a number of passersbys who stopped, recognising the young prodigy.

“As of your final contest this week your cards and bank accounts will be frozen. Without that money you will have no choice but to stay here.”

“Why would you do that?” He hissed, Yurio had no reason to ask if his mother was serious as she never joked, as far as he knew she never even smiled.

“Because you are our son, and a minor at that and it's high time you get your head out of the ice and into the real world, Yuri.'' Natasha scolded as her mobile phone began to ring.

“At least let me finish the season!” Yurio would never beg but, there and then he would have fallen to his knees and touched his forehead to the ground if that would change his mother’s mind. 

“And let you fly off to God knows where?” She hissed, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “”No, now that you are here you will stay here. That's all.”

And, with what she had to say, said, Natasha answered her phone, walking away from her son without a glance backwards as she complained about St Petersburg traffic and undesirable setbacks.

The guard, who had unfortunately been listening in to the conversation, not knowing what to tell the teen and having no right to intervene, did the only thing he could, he led him back to the competitors' stage.

“Oh? Thalia’s not with you?” Victor instantly enquired as he reappeared in the competitors section, the rink about to open for warm up. 

But Yurio barreled past, ignoring him. Victor stopped his teasing when he saw the teen’s face as he did so, like he had just been forced to jump overboard from a sinking ship, knowing he wouldn’t be able to swim once he hit the water. Yurio went directly to Yakov and Lilia with the news. There was no use holding it off, there was no convincing his mother once she made up her mind.

* * *

“And that it's! The first participants of the St Petersbourg skate was Victor Nikivrovo’s ‘Once Upon a December’. Having returned to his home rink after almost two years the stadium is filled with both local and international supporters! And with at least four successful quads Nikiforov’s year out coaching in Japan seems to have had minimal influence on his performance.” The crowd’s cheers thundered around Victor as he waved at the audience, bowing slightly as they showed no signs of ceasing even as he skated to the edge of the rink where Yakov was waiting for him.

“You increased the amount of quads.” Yakov complained as Victor joined him in the Kiss and Cry.

“I had to do better than Tokyo.” Victor simply answered. He’d pulled out all the stops in his free skate back in Tokyo, a rookie mistake to make so early in the competitions, but there was no turning back now.

“And there you have it!” The presenter bellowed over the crowds as Victor received an impressive amount of points. “Victor Nikiforov, as the first competitor here in St petersburg has set an impossibly high bar, has first place for the short programme already been decided?”

“C’mon Yurio!” Victor called from the Kiss and Cry as the younger boy skated to the center. 

“This is also Yuri Plisetsky’s first time returning to his home rink here in St Petersburg after also training in Japan.” The stadium erupted into cheers, a number of men and women’s noses bled at the sight of him. Calling Yurio beautiful would have been an understatement, there was a mysterious aura about him, his costume was the same shade of green as his eyes, darkened by a black shear layer above giving the impression of glitter speckled wings.

Thalia cheered as Yurio stopped at the center of the rink, her sister was boredly sitting beside her, she’d been like that all morning. Thalia had honestly wondered why Nadia had insisted on coming to the tournament with her if she was going to look so agonised the whole time. But Thalia’s cheering stopped as the big screen zoomed in on the performers face.

“He doesn’t seem to be having the best day, does he?” Observed Nadia, perking up a little as she spoke. 

_ She’s right _ . Thought Thalia trying to recall the conversation she’d had with him that morning. He’d seemed ok until the warm up but he hadn’t answered her last message since then. Could something have happened? Although the stadium cheered, Thalia looked at the face projected before her, as if something had broken behind his eyes.

“And now, performing to an orchestration of [Defying Gravity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPgeyyG66Hk&list=LLsT9L-IoVEjB5DFCh9npggQ&index=4&t=0s), Russia’s Yuri Plisetsky.”

Yurio began by looking at his skates as, in time to the music he lifted his head and stretched and retracted a single arm at a time as he began with a dance sequence. He entered a short spiral in an arabess position before entering a small step sequence and performing the first jump of the sequence, a triple flip. 

“Something’s definitely wrong.” Muttered Victor, leaning against the ice rink wall as the triple flip turned into a double..

“That is not Yuri on the ice.” Lilia’s stern voice boomed.”That is just a soulless puppet moving to vibrations in the air. “

“His conversation with his mother has unhinged him.” Growled Yakov, “And it's showing in his performance!”

His next jump didn’t go any better, the triple salchow turned into a double. He was going through the motions, that's what it felt like as he entered the step sequence, moving his arms as he had been told to do in training, but he couldn’t hear the music, couldn’t picture the words, this was meant to be a song about breaking away from the expectations of others, of rising above that. But the more Yurio tried to reach out to the sky, the more it felt he was falling back. The next jump was a combination triple loop quad salchow, that was okay but he stumbled on the landing, falling to the ground as the music softened, there were gasps from the audience, mouths were covered, tears in the eyes of some. Even to the untrained eye Yurio seemed to be floundering through the air, struggling in his movements. 

If he just stayed on the ground and let the music play, what difference would it make? This would be his last tournament, why should he care?

Thalia was one of many who could not believe what was happening before her eyes, not only due to the state of Yurio’s performance but those broken eyes, they were unnervingly similar. She had seen them in Nadia after her accident, she'd seen them every time in the mirror since she’d promised to give up skating.

She shook her head, she couldn’t believe she was seeing this again.

“Whoa! Someone’s really blowing it today.” Commented Nadia, the only one who seemed to be enjoying the show unfolding before them. The pace of the music began to change but Yurio had yet to stand. 

“Get up.” Thalia whispered. “Yuri you have to get up!” She yelled so loudly she caused the people around her to jump. Nadia raised her hand to the side of her face, pretending she didn't know her even though they practically had the same face.

The voice barely reached Yurio, becoming muffled like the music.

“Get up!”

Whose voice was that? 

Had he heard right? 

Yurio blinked as his vision came into focus, feeling the chill of the ice slowly bringing him back to his senses. What had happened? Why hadn't he gotten back up the moment he hit the ice? This wasn’t like him. He was Yuri Plisetsky the ice tiger of russia, even if this were his last competition he would be damned if he’d be remembered as the man who had wiped out on the ice. 

To a silent stadium, the only sound was that of the music, Yurio got to his feet, the audience’s breath was held, was he going to leave the rink? Give up on the short programme all together ? 

But Yurio did not move as he closed his eyes, allowing his ears to listen to the music, he still had half his programme to go through, and, with a newly found spirit he kicked against the ice, entering the intended dance sequence without hesitation as the force and life of the music increased. He leaped into a triple axel quad toe loop combination, his best jump in his whole performance.

Victor let out a small smile. “Ah, now Yurio’s joined us” and for a moment his eyes flickered to the stadium, his eyes pinpointing the girl who had somehow got him back to his senses. Another short step sequence to lead into a quad salchow, the first quad Yurio had managed to perform that day. Upon landing he entered a bielmans’s spin, keeping it as long as the note, possibly the highest in the song, was held. His final jump, a trip flip trip toe loop was also successfully landed. And, as the song played to its dramatic ending, Yurio spinning from a crouch to a fully standing position, stopped perfectly on time, lifting on hand to the sky with the song's final note.

The audience erupted, so enthralled had they been by Yurio’s performance if they didn’t know better, they would have thought a totally different person had first entered the rink.

“Are you not going to tell me off for my performance?” Yurio grumbled as he sat at the Kiss and Cry besides Yakov and Lilia.

“I believe you have punished yourself already.” Observed Yakov, folding his arms as he patiently waited for the results to be announced. Being the second competitor of the day Yurio was placed in second place, but with the glaring gap between his and Victor’s results it was going to be very unlikely he’d be able to hold it for much longer.

“The show never ends.” Lilia explained, solemnly standing. “Even if the free skate is your last performance as a professional figure skater you must remember, the show never ends.”

“Right.” Yurio coughed, pulling his hood over his head and stalking towards the changing rooms. He didn’t need to see the rest of the competitors.

* * *

“Oh they let you in!” Victor nodded his head in approval as the guard led Nathalia Kane Osment to the competitors section of the stadium. The two exchanged some words in russian before the guard turned to return to his post.

“It's a little weird being specifically called backstage.” Thalia admitted, running her hand through her hair nervously. Talking to the great Victor Nikiforov had a different feel to when she spoke with Yurio, she’d idolised them both but Victor seemed to live on a whole different spectrum then the rest of them.

“Can’t be as weird as randomly yelling out in front of a whole stadium of people.” Victor said, knowingly. 

“Ah yes, not particularly sure what got over me, back then.” Thalia admitted, sheepishly.

“There is no doubt that they are going to figure out who you are now. Not going to have another day of peace for a while.”

Thalia shrugged, she’d deal with that somehow. “Is Yuri okay though? He seemed a little strange in the first half of his routine, like he wasn’t really himself…”

“Ah about that.” And, under the notion that Yurio would someday forgive him for spilling his secrets, told Thalia everything- starting with Yurio’s family background, to his mother's recent decision concerning his skating. 

A hollow feeling filled Thalia’s chest as Victor finished explaining. So that’s why Yurio had looked so lost during his performance. “That’s horrible.” She exclaimed, she had so many other words she could use, but they didn’t feel appropriate to say in front of Victor.

“My sentiments exactly, and I doubt you and I are the only ones who feel the same.” Agreed Victor.

“But what can we do? She is his mother, legally speaking, since he’s a minor he has to do what she says…” Began Thalia.

“Ah! But what if that's not the case?”

“I hope you aren’t suggesting Yurio isn’t her son…”

“Oh, no no my dear Thalia, those are things for those spanish telenovelas Minako loves to secretly watch.”

“So what do you mean?” Questioned Thalia, confused.

“How much are you willing to do to keep Yurio skating?” Victor countered mysteriously. 

remembering the look in his eyes, so broken, so much like her own, she didn’t want anyone to fall into the same darkness she and her sister had. “Anything I can do."


	12. Little Ball of Fur

“Yurio,” Victor sang out the name, instantly irritating the teen. “If you insist on retiring, shouldn’t you focus on making your final performance one worthy of the history books? We don’t want another breakdown like you had in the short program.”

“I didn’t have a break down,” insisted Yurio, not sure what to call what had happened to him a few days back. 

“So defensive!” Victor teased, .

“I am not being defensive !” Loudly yelled Yurio, causing a number of passersbys to quicken their pace. 

It was a cold November day as the small group walked to the competitions rink, which was only a few blocks away. The frigid air that wafted over St Petersburg from the Malaya river would have caused even the most seasoned travelers to waddle up in their warmest clothes. But for Victor, Yurio and their coaches the air felt refreshing, it’s cold bite heightening their senses. A thick layer of light grey clouds loomed overhead, obscuring the sun from the city. The early morning traffic snailed past them amidst agitated honking and frustrated yells. 

It felt strange to be back in St Petersburg, walking the streets they had known most of their lives, following routes and paths without a second thought. There was a comfort in this feeling, and yet the word home eluded them when Victor tried to describe this city to himself.

“You keep checking your phone”. Observed Victor. “A little trouble in paradise with Ms Kane?”

“Shouldn’t you care a little more about your own relationship, Victor?”

“Ah! So there is a relationship between you and Ms Kane?`` Victor exclaimed excitedly, pleased at having cought Yurio in his own words.

Like always, Victor always seemed to hit the hammer on the nail with affairs concerning Thalia. Since coming to St Petersburg he hadn’t seen her once, it’s true they’d messaged a few times since then, but Thalia’s answers were uncharacteristically short, as if she were too busy to give him a straight answer . Yurio half wondered if it was because he’d messed up in the short skate, placing him in 5th. Had she lost faith in him as a skater already? Not that he cared or anything.

“Do not waste time with relationships.” Explained Lilia cooley, deciding to input her own words of advice.”Drink, eat, make love- simply live the life that satisfies you. Don’t waste it on a relationship trying to satisfy the insatiable.”

“Is that the appropriate thing to say with your ex-husband around?” Wondered Victor, eyeing Yakov who had wisely chosen to stay quiet.

“There is a reason why he is my  _ ex _ -husband.” Lilia said cooly,

* * *

Thalia was secretly wondering what she had gotten herself into when she had agreed to Victor's plan. Her parents had supported her all the way though now she was regretting refusing their offer of staying with her at the train station. She had somewhat hoped that Nadia would have offered to stay with her, but she had made it very obvious she didn’t want anything to do with Yuiro, why Nadia hated him so, Thalia had no idea. Her parents seemed to find it quite amusing that their daughter had become the butt of gossip tabloid news, especially since the short program where people had finally snapped a decent enough photo of her to be recognised. 

_ The train should be arriving soon. _ A message from Victor informed her, Thalia would never have thought a few days ago that she would be messaging Victor Nikiforov, but this was his plan after all and they had agreed that Thalia would leave him a live location so he could keep track of her progress. 

She looked up at the arrival sign as a number of names in russian illuminated the black screen, each one indicating an arrival time. Thalia looked down at the cheat sheet Victor had neatly prepared for her, each little slip of paper with a common phrase she would most likely need in this endeavour. One had the name of Mosocw translated, and that was the train she was looking for. 

There were a long list of arrivals, a few had flickering green lights indicating the ones that had arrived at the station. She scanned the names a few more times, of course the one she was looking for would be the one running late. However she practically jumped off the bench when a new green light flickered into life near the name she had been looking for. 

From her backpack she pulled out a large, neatly folded piece of paper with a lot of writing in russian on it. It was meant to indicate to the new arrival that  _ she _ was the one meant to take him to the ice rink but, for all she knew, it could say that she was a poop-head, but she’d have to take Victor on his word that that wasn’t what was written.

Within a few minutes a mass of people began to file out of the express bullet train from Moscow into the main station, most in suits and briefcases as they stormed past Thalia without a glance and dared brave the frigid weekday morning outside. Thalia felt beyond stupid, standing beside her bench holding up her little sign, like a taxi driver waiting to pick up a client, but she had not taxi and the person looking for her wasn’t a client. 

“Nathalia Kane?” Thalia jumped, almost dropping her sign as a deep, heavily accented voice called her name from the opposite side she was looking. A tall main, well into his seventies was cautiously waiting for her as she turned to face him. He was a tall man, though it was hard to tell due to an obvious hunch in his stance. A web of wrinkles covered the little face she could see past his beret and beard.

“Nikolai Plisetsky?” Thalia sheepishly asked, putting down her sign as the man carefully put down the carrier bag he had been holding, from the looks of it, his only piece of luggage.

The man nodded his head with a warm smile and some words in russian Thalia couldn't understand but he extended his hand, a gesture the girl  _ did  _ understand and she shook it in greeting. Thalia quickly flicked through her cheat sheets and presented him with one.

_ I’m sorry, I don’t speak russian. _

Nikolai nodded his head, Victor had already warned him of this, the language barrier was going to be a problem as the old man didn’t know any english. But the two were determined to make it work if it meant helping out Yurio. The man simply nodded his head, showing her he understood. She then picked out another card and allowed him to read it as she went to pick up his carrier. Thalia's eyes bugged as she realised what was in the bag but with no cheat prepared for _ this _ particular question she decided to ask later.

Nikolai nodded his head, obviously thanking her as she carefully lugged the carrier bag and led him to where the taxi that Victor had booked for them was patiently waiting, with another sign, this in english, with her name on it. The pair got into a taxi and the driver said some words in russian, Nikolai answered, nodding his head, most likely confirming the location they had to go. 

_ On the Taxi with Nikolai _ .” She texted back to Victor who sent her a thumbs up. The ice rink was about an hour’s walk away from the station, something, even without a bad back, was not something Thalia would have liked to try as she looked out at the sky choked with clouds. The taxi should get them there within 20 minutes, allowing them to arrive with plenty of time before the men's free skate even began. Thalia had even questioned Victor why he needed her for his plan but he mysteriously answered. “You’re plan B.”

Which honestly did not make sense to her until she’d realised, since leaving the station's parking area 10 minutes had passed and the station was still in view behind them. A chorus of car honks filled the taxi as she opened her window and tried to see what was hindering their travels. She could see flashing lights in the distance and the wail of sirens. Nikolai asked the taxi driver something and the man answered, “There has been a crash.” The driver said in english for her sake, “It may take us a while to get there.”

“Any chance of us getting there before 10?” Thalia asked, hopefully.

The driver shook his head solumnely. 

Damn, so that’s what Victor meant that she was plan B. 

“Okay, Okay…” Thalia brought out her phone and quickly typed in the address, allowing the maps to calculate the shortest route there, crossing out busses as another means of transport which seemed to be the only way to get to the rink. Thalia zoomed into the map, looking at the area around the rink for other possibilities. She saw one. 

“Please, can you let us out here?” 

“You sure?” The taxi driver asked, he wasn’t particularly worried about any loss, he had been paid in full prior to the pick up. “It looks like it may snow.”

“Thank you! But we'll manage.” And Thalia quickly unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. “Would you mind telling the man with me that we will be getting out here, please?”

The taxi driver did so with ease, and, although Nikolai looked very confused he also got out of the car and marched to the pavement as Thalia began lifting her phone and turning around in circles, Yurio’s grandfather most likely thought she was crazy. 

“This way!” She yelled excitedly, understanding which way to go. She excitedly pointed up the street for Nikolai to understand. The two walked a few paces, her eyes barely ever leaving the screen. 

“Gah!” She spat, spinning back in the opposite direction, almost crashing into the old man and almost dropping the bag. She apologised loudly and began leading the old man in the other direction, Nikolai shaking his head as he carefully carried the bag in both hands, 

“Kids these days…” He mumbled in russain as he followed Thalia. She led Nikolai through the winding streets of St Petersburg, the air getting colder by the second, it was almost numbing when they’d finally entered the metro station she had been looking for. Quickly, she marched towards the nearest metro map, her eyes jumping from her phone for the name of the closest metro station to the ice rink, they’d need to change twice it seemed, but it was doable. 

She turned toward Nikolai, her mind already racing as she tried to figure out where to buy tickets from. Nikolai was looking around in interest, back in Moscow he’d had his own car so he never really had to catch the underground before. The bullet train here had already been something quite interesting. 

The girl went to a ticket machine which thankfully could be converted to english and she began the process of purchasing the two tickets they needed. But, as she fumbled with her backpack to retrieve her purse, Nikolai pushed her hand away, feeding money to the machine before she could refuse. 

“Thank you!” She said, shoving her backpack back over her shoulders. Nikolai nodded his head with a smile, understanding that much. The underground of St Petersburg was like any other metro Thalia had ever caught- hot and stuffy and with way too many people. Thankfully it appeared they had missed the morning rush hour for the most part, at least there was enough space on the metro for Nikolai to sit, Thalia would have felt too guilty dragging the old man though this maze with the bad back Victor had warned her so much about.

_ Thalia where are you going? _ At some point Victor asked when, according to the metro map, they had gone slightly off route in hopes of changing at the next station

_ Plan B. _ She quickly replied, making Victor burst out into laughter on the other end, much to Yurio annoyance.

“And we are finally out!” Thalia cheered, punching the air as she waited for Nikolai to near the exit of their final stop. He gave her a thumbs up taking a deep breath as the fresh river air bit at their faces finally emerging into the open air. In the time they had been buried in the underbelly of st petersbourg a flurry of snow had begun, slowly coating the pavement in a soft icing. Thalia ran her hand through her hair as she looked between the snow and Nikolai, should she wait for a taxi to take them to the rink? But the app told her that their wait for the taxi would take longer than walking the last distance they had to reach the rink. But she also had to remember she was leading Yurio’s grandfather, who had a bad back, what would she do if she got careless and he got hurt?

Nikolai looked at the girl's perplexed face, getting the gist of her issue. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder to catch her attention and with his other hand made the universal gesture of walking with his fingers. 

Thalia wanted to ask if he was certain but couldn't. She nodded her head, the two coming to a silent agreement. She would just make sure they wouldn’t have to resort to plan C, because they had no plan C.

* * *

“Vitya!” Growled Yakov, surprising Victor into almost dropping his phone. “You cannot sit on your laurels!”

“I’m not!” Promised Victor, sparing the screen of his another glance. The little circle that indicated Thalia’s location had stopped moving some distance away and, when he’d tried to contact her she hadn’t answered. 

Yakov sighed, massaging his brow. “I know what you are doing is for Yuri but he will never be satisfied if he won and you hadn’t performed your best because of this…”

“Yakov! I’m hurt!” Victor gasped with a fake offence. “Do you have so little faith in me?”

“I wouldn’t have followed you around the world if I did.” Yakov muttered, making Victor smile fondly at his coach.

“What are you two whispering about in the shadows like shady bastards?” Yurio roared, striding towards them, his hands in his pockets, his glare more irritated than usual.

“Yurio! If Lilia heard you say such words.” Victor tutted as he shook his head. Victor wondered if he was grumpier at this being his last performance or that Thalia hadn’t answered his messages most of the morning.

Yurio made an irritated face. “Why are your two waiting in here? The free skate is about to begin.”

“Well….” Victor stumbled on an excuse as he looked at his phone once again. Thalia's marker still hadn’t moved.

“ Yurochka ?” A deep voice echoed through the passageway, catching the attention of the small group.

“Dedushka?!” Yurio gasped, blinking, certain he was seeing wrong.

“Hello  Yurochka .” The old grandfather greeted warmly, hobbling slightly towards them, his coat and hat seemed wet and flakes of snow were still trapped in his beard. A small carrier clutched in his hand.

“What are you doing here?” Yurio yelled, running towards his grandfather, he looked so tired, how had he gotten here?

“I felt… I should show you this… in person.” Explained Nikolai, carefully putting down his bag and rummaging through the pockets of his large coat to bring out an old, wrinkled piece of paper. 

Yurio took it, unsure what he would find. 

“I don’t understand…” He began, trying to read the paper but unsure of what it said, it seemed rather complicated although he recognized the signinutes of his parents and grandfather at the bottom of the paper. 

“They are papers of guardianship.” Victor explained, having already heard the explanation when he’d informed Nikolai of his grandson’s situation, it seemed Yurio had decided no to tell the old man of the agreement he’d made with his parents.

“Guardianship?” Yurio looked at his grandfather, muddled and confused. 

“It gives your grandfather legal custody of you from when you first started living with him.” Victor tried to explain. 

“I still don’t understand...:”

“Since you are still a minor it gives him power over your health and education…” Began Yakov.

“Simply put, your parents gave up their right to stop you from skating when they signed this little paper.” Concluded Victor, proud of himself for such a flawless plan.

Yurio was speechless as he tried to read the paper that held so much power over his own life. “But my parents' money…” He began, his grandfather lived off a pension, without his parents’ support they’d barely be able to support each other, let alone figure skating.

“We do not need it.” Nikolai siad, sternly. “You are a good boy  Yurochka. Every time you won, you gave me most of your prize money.”

Yurio nodded his head, it was the least he could do, after everything his grandfather did for him.

“It would have hurt my pride as your grandfather if I'd taken money from a child but, although I knew not of your deal with your parents, I knew their money was a fickle thing so I saved it all.” Nikolai explained.

“You did what?!” Gasped Yurio, this was too much information for him to take in, especially before a competition. “I gave it to you! You should have used it!”

“And I am, at last.” His grandfather said knowingly. “ Yurochka I am happy as long as you are happy. For years you’ve given me money and I have finally chosen how to use it- to support you and your dream.”

Yurio was speechless.

“So I take it that this will not be your last competition?” Clarified Victor, his mischievous grin back on his face.

Yurio carefully gave the paper back to his grandfather. “Not by a long shot.” He agreed, a new fire in his eyes. 

“But Nikolai…” Victor turned to the old man, “What happened to Thalia?”

“Thalia?” Yurio turned to Victor, these last few minutes had had too many surprises for his liking.

“She was in charge of getting you grandfather here. It was my plan, but it was thanks to her that he got here on time.”

“The guards wouldn’t let her through.” Nikolai explained sadly. “They only let me through because Victor warned them that a family member of  Yurochka would be visiting.”

“That’s not right!” Victor mumbled, marching to the closest guard to set things right.

“You’ve got good friends,  Yurochka.”  Nikolai said, planting a strong hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

Yurio nodded his head. He’d never asked for them but it seemed he did.

“You didn’t need to get me back stage….” Thalia said, tugging at her hair as she tried to make her appearance somewhat presentable. The snow had melted leaving her a damp mess as the guard led her to where the small group was waiting for her.

“What kind of gratitude is that!” Victor gave an exaggerated gasp. “It's thanks to you Nikolai got her in one piece.”

“Could have gone south, my phone died on the way here but thankfully the stadium was in view by the time that happened.” She gave a nervous laugh. It would be putting it lightly if that morning hadn’t been stressful and that her phone dying was the  _ only _ thing that could have gone wrong.

“Now tell her thank you,  Yurochka.” His grandfather ordered, gently shoving the boy in her direction.

“And give her a hug.” Added Victor in russian.

“I don’t hug!” He growled unintentionally, saying that in english, causing his face to turn even redder as Thalia laughed. 

“You don’t look like the hugging type.” She agreed, extending a closed fist towards him. 

Yurio did the same, allowing their fists to bump. “Thanks for that, by the way.” He mumbled, looking away as he said so, causing Victor to roll his eyes at the kid’s entics. 

“No problem.” Thalia beamed, lowering her fist, “If you were going to retire from skating, it should be your choice.” It seemed Yurio's situation had hit a little close to home for Thalia, but, if that was the reason why she’d helped Yurio she gave no hints. Instead she continued to say, “Now I have to know, why’s there a cat in that bag?”

“Cat?!” Yurio turned, looking at the carrier bag beside his grandfather's feet. Realising the subject of the conversation, and with a look of having suddenly remembered he was carrying said bag, he carefully knelt down and unzipped the meshwork flap of the bag, pulling out a very ruffled and very fluffy cat.

“Potya!?” Yurio gasped, he hadn’t seen the cat since he’d moved to japan, he’d missed the cat but that was the last thing he’d expected to meet before his competition.

“Security is selectively lax.” Commented Yakov, as Nikolai handed Yuiro the cat, who looked extremely grumpy at having been dragged across the country and being particularly careful its nails didn’t damage his costume under his jacket.

“Omg!” Thalia squealed, covering what remained of the distance between Yurio and herself in one swift jump, her face coming very close to his as she tried to stop herself from petting the cat. “It’s so fluffy….gah! Of course I'm out of charge. I'd love to take a few pictures of this little floof. “

“Of course, meeting a grand champion winner doesn’t earn a photo but meeting a cat does.” Yurio complained loudly. 

“That's because the cat is actually cute.” Thalia teased, causing the coaches to burst out laughing.


	13. Go the Distance

“Pork cutlet bowl! Has that idiot Victor arrived yet?” Even as a little buzz coming out of his mobile phone Yurio sounded angry. 

“Not yet,” Admitted Yuuri. 

“I’m heading to the finals, pork cutlet bowl, so you better not screw up!” The teen continued to gloat. Following the events whereby Yurio had discovered his new found freedom, his free programme was so scarily impressive that he leaped bounds over the other competitors, making a full comeback from the short program, and landed himself neatly in second place, still some points behind Victor whose free skate somehow surpassed his short programme.

“That’s not very nice!” Yuri heard a young woman yell on Yurio’s side and there was a loud rustling sound across the line that sounded like static and muffled complaints. “Don’t listen to this idiot, Yuuri.” The same voice said.

“Thalia? I didn’t know you were there.” Yuuri admitted, though he’d heard what the two had gone through thanks to Victor's crazy, yet well intended, plan.

“You're the idiot! “ He heard Yurio complain. But Thalia chose to ignore him.

“Yeah, since Yuri and the coaches decided to stay here a few extra days and my trip isn’t over yet, we agreed to watch your competition together at his old training rink” Thalia explained excitedly.

“Make sure Yurio treats you right.” Yuuri replied, considering Thalia’s identity as Yurio’s mystery girl had blown up the internet, she seemed to be handling it well.

“I heard that!” Shouted Yurio, Yuuri must be on speaker.”Has that idiot Victor arrived yet?”

“Last I heard he landed and caught a taxi, though I haven’t heard much since.” Yuuri's anxiety was sounding in his voice.

“Signals must just be shoddy.” Tried to reassure him, Thalia. “He’ll be there soon enough.”

“Yeah I know, but the other competitions have already started, the men's short programme will be starting soon.”

“Well Victor promised he’ll be there so I’m sure he will.” Thalia said confidently.

“You don’t have time to worry about him!” Yelled Yurio. 

“You don’t need to yell in my ear!” Thalia yelled back before saying in a normal voice.”Well we’ll be cheering for you here.”

“ I won’t.” Grumbled Yurio.

“So good luck.” Thalia continued, ignoring Yurio. “Oh! And happy birthday! I heard it's tomorrow right?”

“Yes, but Victor believes it’s bad luck to say that before the actual day.” Yuuri laughed nervously, trying to calm his nerves.

Thalia apologise profoundly before Yurio reclaimed his phone and the line cut.

“He seems to be doing better.” A deep, cool voice caught his attention. 

“Oh! Otabek, I didn’t see you there.” Yuuri apologised as the man, who must have wondered here for some quiet before his performance came into focus. “Yes, Yurio’s back to his usual confident self.”

Otabek just nodded his head and turned his attention away from Yuuri, a look of concentration plaguing his handsome face. Taking that as a sign their brief exchange was over, Yuuri wandered back towards the rink where the first competitor had already entered the rink, Minami kenjirou. The young teen’s excitement seemed to increase disproportionately as he saw Yuuri but he took multiple calming breaths before adjusting his stance as the music began. 

One by one the competitors performed, Yuuri was last on the schedule but as the minutes ticked away, Yuuri’s anxiety continued to increase, not just because of his performance, but something in his gut was telling him something was wrong with Victor. He should have been here by now, and although he had tried to call, it just failed to connect.

“I’m sure everything is going to be fine .” Confidently said Minami, having chosen to spend his free time observing his idol at work, but what he had learnt from him other than that Yuuri suffered from severe anxiety at times, Yuuri didn’t know. Yuuri left his phone on the ground as he tried to stretch against the wall, one person left and still no response from Victor, what was going on?

Minami gingerly bent down and picked up Yuuri's phone as if it were the most precious item in the world and the device chose that moment to light up and vibrate. Surprised, Minami almost tossed into the air, catching it rather aggressively before handing it to Yuuri but the Japanese skater was too worried about Victor to even comment.

Yuuri could feel the blood drain from his face as he read the notification banner. It was an email to his private email.

The recipient name read N.E.K.O

_ We’d thought you’d like to see where Victor is… _

The subject read as he opened the email.

“What wrong?” Minami carefully asked, seeing the colour drain from the older man’s face.

I _ t’s not going to give you a virus, we promise. _ Was the sole message in the email apart from the link, which he clicked on his shaking fingers.

Yuuri didn't believe the virus thing but something, possibly his anxious nerves had clouded his rational part of the brain, forced him to click the link. 

It directed him to a news website where the headline caused Yuuri to drop his phone like it had burnt him.

“What’s wrong.?” Minema jumped, trying to catch the phone but not before it hit the ground, a broad crack spreading across its illuminated surface. 

The youth didn’t mean to but he glanced down at words.

_ Traffic crash in krakow- passenger Nikiforov in critical condition _ .

“Oh, no, no, no!.” Minami was shaking his head reading through the article in disbelief. “This can’t be real! It has to be a hoax, it has to!”

A hoax, yes ...N.E.K.O had sent him the article to unnerve him like they had the video of Victor's dad but, from what Victor had told him, the video had been undoubtedly authentic, so what was saying this wasn’t real as well? 

“None of the other news websites are saying a thing!” Hastily confirmed Minami, “This can't be real Yuuri! It’s just some cruel joke!”

Cruel was an understatement. 

Oblivious to Yuuri’s current meltdown an organiser informed him that it was time for him to head out to the rink. 

“I can’t do this!” He blurted out, surprising the rink hand at the look of total devastation on the man's face, “I can’t do this, not with Victor…”

“We don’t know.” Minami tried to explain. 

“But it could be true! N.E.K.O hadn’t lied before”

“N.E.K.O- N.E.K.O sent you this?” Minami shouted, his naturally loud voice getting even louder. 

“I-I can’t do this, not like this.” Yuuri began to reverse away, his eyes that of a cornered animal, his hand covering his ears as if that could make the news less real.”

“Yuuri! Yuuri!” Minami Yelled, gripping his wrist and forcing him to look at him, that wild unhinged look still in his eyes. “You have to head out there and do your short programme.”

“No I can't, Victor may be…” Yuuri couldn’t even say the words.

“Fine.” Minami finished . “This is N.E.K.O, they just want to get you off your game. They did this on purpose, sending this just as you have to go skate, the timing is too perfect.”

Yuri knew that, it was all too perfectly in N.E.K.O’s favour, but N.E.K.O hadn’t lied before, something inside him nagged, and he hadn’t been able to contact Victor in ages.

“You have to go out there and skate,” Minamai insisted.

“I’m in no state…”

“But you have to!” Minami ordered, he didn’t want to yell at Yuuri, he couldn’t even believe he was touching his hands at that moment, but he looked so distraught Minami had to push his excitement away and think clearly. “That’s what N.E.K.O wants, and…” Minamu gulped before continuing, “and if Victor is… and this mess is real, he'd insist you skate! He’ll haunt you If you do otherwise.”

Minami was right and a small voice inside Yuuri agreed with him, the small rational part that remained, that moved his legs to the rink and the rest of his mind and emotions tumbled and turned making him want to feel sick. He couldn’t let N.E.K.O get to him but yet, a little voice at the back of his mind whispered, what if it were true?

“There’s something wrong with the pork cutlet bowl.” Scowled Yurio, leaning back in his chair with his legs on the table.

“Maybe he's just tired of being called a pork cutlet bowl.” Thalia quickly retorted, as she leaned in over the table to see better.

“Well he insists on calling me that wretched nickname…”

“You mean, Yurio?” Thalia teased, she’d never called Yuri that, but seeing how much it annoyed him she just might start. 

“It looks like he’s going to ball his eyes out!” Complained Yurio. “Did that idiot not get there yet?”

Thalia let out a loud gasp, almost dropping her phone.

“I hate it when people do that.” Growled Yurio but his complaints were silenced when Thalia practically pushed her phone into his face. He swore loudly in russian as he read the headlines, the same headlines claiming that Victor had been in a crash. Yurio shook his head in disbelief, “That can’t be!”

“The timing is too perfect!” Began Thalia, already scanning through other websites to verify the article's claims.

“It must be N.E.K.O” Growled Yurio, “It's the same trick they pulled on Victor.”

“Yuuri’s smart, he wouldn’t believe this, right?” Thalia almost begged.

But it wouldn’t matter if Yuuri believed the article or not, any professional would be nervous, and in that state, with every muscle tense, even the slightest news, real or false, could cause someone to snap.

Yuuri barely realised that the music had started, giving him a second’s delay as he started the routine with an instant step sequence, however his movements felt sluggish, his breathing already difficult. At this rate, he’d tire himself out before he even reached the halfway point of his routine. Yuuri used the orchestration of ‘[Go the Distance’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beir_RwxwUc&list=LLsT9L-IoVEjB5DFCh9npggQ&index=4&t=0s)s’ slow start to try to clear his head, settle the trembling in his movements. N.E.K.O had done that on purpose, Yuuri knew that they could play with his anxiety and fear, as well as Victor’s absence, to unhinge him, like they had tried to do with Victor. However Victor had fought back, answering with a performance that was beyond words. That's what Victor would want him to do now, to prove to N.E.K.O he wasn’t some weakling they could torment with such news. 

But what if it was true?

Yuuri would have to beg for Victor’s forgiveness.

He was coming up to the first jump, this could be it, if he failed his first jump Yuuri was scared he’d crack and crumble. He jumped into the air and the quad turned into a triple toe loop but he landed without difficulty, easing the tension in his limbs as he skated around the ring, his arms extending before him in time with the music. He wobbled slightly as he balanced on one leg but he chose to ignore it as he performed a triple axel accompanied by cheering from the audience. He allowed his body to flow to the slow, nearly haunting opening of the song. He entered a short arabess position across the rink as the music began a slow crescendo successfully performing a quadruple salchow skating in time to the crescendo to perform another quadruple salchow amidst the cheers from the crowds. He then followed with a short dance sequence building up speed and he spun at the center on one leg, increasing as he increased the momentum of his spin as he lowered his leg into a full standing position, he hands moving from in front of his chest to over his head, gracefully breaking out of the spin he entered another step sequence, the crowd going wild as he did so. 

He entered a complicated spinning step sequence, his arms outstretched on either side as the guitar sollo blared out of the speakers, entering a brief seated spin before stopping to point at the sky and continuing into a step sequence finishing his performance with another impressively fast spin ending in a slow, backward skate across the rink where he he stopped with one hand pointed to the sky. 

The audience erupted into wild applause, enthralled by the youth’s performance, even as the man’s shoulders heaved, and he covered his mouth to gag the sobs that threatened to escape. He had done it, he’d somehow done it.

“Yuuri!” A voice called over the applause. Yuuri’s head shot up, his hands still covering his mouth as his eyes widened to see the man who had called him. Tears pricked his eyes, blaring his vision as, on uncertain feet, he skated towards the exit. 

“Victor!” He bellowed, the tears flowing freely as he clasped at the man who had called him, almost pushing him off his feet with the force of the impact, never wanting to let him go ever again. 

“That was spectacular,Yuuri.” Victor whispered proudly into his hair allowing his hands to encircle his crying student. 

“Victor…” Yuuri tried to say something but that was all he could manage before the tears choked his words. 

“Don’t worry Yuuri, Minami told me everything.” Victor whispered in a soothing voice, “I’m here and I’m safe, that was just a cuel article written by N.E.K.O”

“I-I know…” Hiccuped Yuuri, finally lifting his face off Victor's chest, scanning his face to make sure that this was Victor and not another cruel joke. “But when you wouldn’t answer your phone and you never showed…”

“There was something strange about my taxi driver.” Victor admitted carefully leading Yuuri away from the rink, they had a few minutes before they'd have to enter the Kiss and Cry. “Although I had charge for some reason I couldn’t receive or send any messages or calls, not even my internet was working and the driver seemed to purposely have almost sent me to Zakopane before realising we were heading in the wrong direction.”

“That N.E.K.O would go to such lengths...” Yuuri shook his head, as he hiccupped.

“Yakov contacted the taxi service we were using to ask for our location and they’d told him that their driver never picked me up.” The horror must have shown on Yuuri's face because Victor quickly smiled, reassuring his fiance that he was fine. “You were amazing out there Yuuri, you have really grown as a skater.” He murmured using his sleeve to wipe away his tears, “Even though that must have been hard you gave a performance worthy of you and all the work you put into it, now lets see if the judges agree with me.” Smiled Victor, leaning down to kiss Yuuri gently, forgetting the agreement he’d made with the paparazzi, before leading him to the Kiss and Cry, all the cameras flashing wildly.


	14. Budapest

It must be said that, considering the state Yuuri had been during his short program, coming in second with enough points to get into the finals was quite impressive. Otabek took first place without a problem but unfortunately, Minami came in third, having to call it an end for that year's Grand Prix. But the youth didn’t seem the least bit disheartened, promising Yuuri that he’d cheer him on at the Hot Spring Resort like he had the previous year.

This year’s Grand Prix Final was to be held in Budapest, Hungary and the 6 competitors that would strive for a spot on the podium were as follows; In sixth place was Prichit Chulanont, followed by his old rink mate Yuuri Katsuki. Otabek secured the next spot while Yuri  Plisetsky , much to his annoyance, had tied for second with Christophe Giacomette, leaving first place to be held by Victor Nikiforov, something most supporters and experts in the field weren't very surprised with. Most even speculated that the aim of the Grand Prix finals at that point was to figure out who’d take silver and bronze.

However, in the eyes of all those competing they cared not what the experts said, they were all aiming for gold.

“You’ve got to calm down, Yuuri.” Victor sang as he sipped his mulled wine. As with the previous year, the finals were held the week before christmas. Although there was no snow, it was still cold walking through the streets of Budapest the night before the finals. Yuuri and Victor, following practice that day, had decided to take the evening off to explore the old city as it seemed neither one had been there before. Budapest was a rather delightful city, dressed in flickering christmas lights and oversized christmas trees. In nearly every little piazza they stumbled upon, a christmas market awaited them, selling cinnamon scented bobbles and ceramic angels on satin strings. 

The couple had whittled away their afternoon in this way, occasionally stopping to purchase something from a stoll or to try some local cuisine. Before they knew it, the sun had set and the silver-white street decorations had illuminated the broad street they were walking along that, according to their mobile maps, was meant to lead from the riverside parliament where their hotel was situated to a historic plaza called Hero’s Square. 

Although the street beside them was busy with holiday traffic, it was a calming, quiet walk with only the occasional jogger, followed by what looked like a four legged mop, the poor creature struggling as it raced after its owner. 

“I am calm.” Yuuri retorted, blowing into his gloved hands, the chill was creeping through the material making the tips of his fingers numb.

“Good.” Victor smiled into his drink, “I want you at the top of your game tomorrow, winning gold won’t taste so good if you aren’t.”

“You really don’t let anything phase your confidence.” Yuuri sighed.

“What is there that could phase any of us? We are all professionals, are we not?”

“Well there’s N.E.K.O…”

“Ah! so there was something on your mind.” Mused Victor, having noticed Yuuri’s distant look a while back.

“Well it's understandable, right?” Began to explain Yuuri, “They’ve tried to interrupt both our performances…”

“But we have proven the better of them both times.” Promptly interrupted Victor.

“... And I can't help thinking that they are targeting us for some reason.” Finished Yuuri.

“They can try to break me... us.” Victor sternly said, “But I believe our love for skating and for each other is strong enough to survive a little hate.”

“You’re right.” Yuuri smiled, as he looked up at the square that was starting to come into view, a high column with a man on horseback looking over the city below. 

“Speaking off.” Victor's voice took a lighter, more mischievous tone, warning Yuuri that Victor was up to something. “It's almost my birthday, last year you gifted me an engagement ring…”

“Ah yes, “ Yuuri let out a nervous laugh, he still hadn’t come up with anything but stopped when he felt Victor’s hand at his chin, leading him to look at him. His face dangerously close to his, an alluring look in his glistening blue eyes. 

“You know I expect something even more grand this year, right?”

“R-right!” Jumped Yuuri, flustered. 

Victor smiled and seemed to lean in towards Yuuri but, before their lips could touch he dropped her hand and walked towards the pavement edge, Hero's Square a magnificent backdrop behind him. 

“Let’s cross, Yuuri!” Victor called, “The lights are green!” 

But Victor smiled as he saw the man rushing towards him, still flustered from their encounter a few seconds before. 

_ How was it possible to love someone  _ this _ much? _ Victor wondered, a smile playing on his lip.

  
  


“I-it’s… Y-your… Your Otabek Aitlen!” Thalia’s squeal was so high that a nearby dog whined in annoyance.

Yurio facepalmed, shaking his head. Over the months since he’d met Thalia, she’d acted like a relatively normal, coolheaded human being but he’d forgotten that, in her heart, she really was a fangirl.

“Is she going to be okay?” Otabek asked in a low voice, watching as her nose bled, her head darting between the two of them. 

“Sometimes she acts like an anime character.” Yurio sighed in embarrassment. He hadn’t meant for this to happen. Thalia had asked to hang out the day before the competition, and Yurio had accepted, forgetting he’d already agreed to meet Otabek, so he did the most reasonable thing, he met with the two at the same time. “Give her a second, it will disappear in no time.”

“You two look just as gorgeous in person!” She jumped,”The brooding dark couple, a sharp contrast to Yuri and Victor’s classical romance.”

“C-couple?” Yurio spluttered. “Otabek and I aren’t…”

“Oh please!” Laughed Thalia, “After that smoking exhibition you two had last year? It's all the fans could talk about!”

The two men exchanged a look, which asked a clear question- had Thalia finally lost it?

“Oh god…” Thalia’s voice failed as her expression shifted from excitement, to confusion to embarrassment. “You guys don’t know?”

“I don’t read gossip.” Otabek said, stoically.

“First I’ve heard of it.” Scowled Yurio.

“Are neither of you one social media!?” Thalia gasped, genuinely shocked. “There's a whole Otayuri fanbase!”

“Otayuri?” Yurio raised a questioning eyebrow but Thalia continued. 

“There have been speculations, fanart, even fanfictions about the two of you! I’ve even been called the Canadian Witch for apparently trying to steal the Russian Fairy from the Hero of Kazakhstan!” As if to emphasize her words she showed the two men a post from Yuri’s angels with such an accusation. 

“The ‘w’ in ‘witch’ looks alot like ‘b’ to me.” Commented Yurio.

“So I went through all that online hate for nothing?” Thalia whined, disappointed, she had secretly shipped the two herself.

“We are not a couple.” Otabak said, ending the conversation before it got any weirder. 

“So, what did you want to do here?” Yurio asked, looking around at the castle they had agreed to meet in front of. A small christmas market lined the path that led to the ivy covered walls, twinkling christmas lights clustered across the gate. Kids walked past, shouting something in hungarian as they ran through the dimly lit park, hiding behind trees in a game of tag. 

“Ah well, its a little stupid to suggest it now…” Thalia said, unusually shy, looking away from the two, running her hand through her curled hair.

Yurio folded his arms, waiting for her to answer.

“I thought it would be cool to go ice skating on the frozen lake.” She shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. She had seen this place when she’d been touring around that morning and it looked really nice, the lake that usually surrounded the castle had been drained and refilled with a large ice rink, with music and lights playing out throughout the whole day. 

“You know we ice skate for a living, right?” Yurio countered.

“Yeah, I know!” Thalia quickly explained, “But how often do you get to ice skate just for fun? I mean, that's the reason why most of us started in the first place, right?”

Otabek watched the two exchange words, there was a light bickering tone in their voices. 

“I think it's an interesting idea.” Otabek stated.

“You do!?” The two said in unison, sounding equally as confused. 

“Yes, though I will have to go talk to the DJ.” Otabak said, leading the way down the path towards the bridge that led to the ice rink’s entrance just behind Hero’s Square. 

Yurio just shrugged in response to Thalia's confused look and the two followed the taller man in silence.

“Such amateurs.” Yurio grumbled, a few minutes later as he sat on the steps on the edge of the ice rink, eyeing the civilians as they passed by. “Some of these people can’t even stay on their feet properly!!”

“Well, not everyone skates every day of their lives.” Observed Thalia, carefully standing.

“But I don’t understand the fun of just skating around in circles!” Yurio continued to complain, watching the people skate by. There were kids and adults alike, although not too many, it was late afternoon on a weekday, most people were most likely just getting home from work, even though the sky above was already dark.

“Are you going to sit there complaining or are you actually going to skate?” Laughed Thalia reaching out and pulling Yurio by his wrists onto the ice.

“You are so annoying, you know that right!?” He complained as he tried to pull his hands free, not needing her help.

“But that’s why you love me.” She joked, winking and skating in the general direction of the DJ standing beside the bridge.

“Tolerate you, maybe.” He mumbled to himself, as he followed her. 

Otabak was standing behind a large DJ control table with a number of disks and levers. He was flicking through a little screen, scanning through the available music. Not much was his style, but he could work with this. 

“How did you get them to let you DJ?” Yurio called to Otabak, who was standing on a platform a little off the ground, with the bridge looming behind him.

“Recognised me from the competitions.” Otabek explained as if it weren’t a big deal. “Asked for a picture and signature and I’ve got this for as long as I want.”

“Awesome!” Yurio yelled back.

“Any requests?” He called down. Thalia looked ready to answer but quickly shut her mouth.

“Oh? The Canadian Witch has a request?” Enquired Otabek.

“Oh nothing!” She quickly jumped, shaking her head and waving her hands. “It's nothing!”

“C’mon let's see if they have it.” Otabak asked, crossing his arms, waiting for her answer.

Slightly blushing she skated towards him and whispered her request to him, causing Yurio to roll his eyes, what was the point of whispering? He’d hear the song soon enough. 

“You sure?” Answered Otabek, already scrolling through the screen, “It's not a great party song.”

“It’s just something I’ve been practicing.” She admitted, running her hand through her hair the way Yurio noticed she did when she was nervous.

“Sure, but no more requests from you.” Otabak said, getting to work as she removed her jacket and hat, she’d have to worry about catching a cold later.

“Practicing?” Yurio wondered, skating towards her but she gestured for him to move away as she looked around, there weren’t many people in the area so that was a perk, but that just meant that the few eyes there might wander towards her more easily.

She stood straight, Yurio crossing his arms, curiously waiting to see what Thalia had been practicing for as far as he knew, she was still banned from skating. 

“Go for it.” She called as Otabak pressed a button and a familiar opening tune wafted over the rink. Yurio’s eyes widened, instantly recognising the song as Thalia began extending her arms in time to the music, this was his short program! It may not be the orchestral version he used but as the vocals bellowed into existence he had no doubt this was ‘Defying Gravity’. 

Thalia felt self conscious doing this, especially with both Yurio and Otabek looking at her. She knew this was an amateurish performance, something she’d worked on alone, out of sight and out of mind. But after all these months, seeing Yuurio, Victor and Yuuri’s endeavours, overcoming one hurdle after another and coming out stronger, it had given her a new strength and this was the only way she could think of thanking them. 

Yurio’s inner critic would have called Thalia’s movements unrefined and ragged and yet there was something captivating about her performance. Thalia wasn’t dancing for points or to win some gold medal, she wasn’t focusing on some competition, or on achieving every movement perfectly. She danced freely, her nervous frown shifting to a smile as she skated around her small section of ice. 

She came to a stop, her breath coming out deeply as she tugged at her shirt, awkwardly looking around as the music died down, not wanting to look at Yurio or Otabek. She almost slipped as a sudden applause filled her ears when the music died. She looked up, to see a group of skaters standing behind Yurio, a few children were twirling, loosely imitating her spins. The only person not clapping was Yurio, he stood there with his arms cross. 

_ What would it take for that guy to clap? _ She mentally wondered, remembering his reaction back in Japan. 

“That was quite the show, Ms Kane Osmant.” A voice called from the bridge above caused Thalia, Yurio and Otabek to look up to see Victor and Yuuri looking over the edge at them.

“T-thanks!” She called up, a lot more people she knew had seen her then expected and she didn’t know how she felt about that.

“C’mon Yuri! Let’s join them, it looks like fun!” Laughed Victor, grabbing Yuuri’s hand and leading him towards the rink entrance before he could answer.

“How was it?” Thalia asked Yurio as the crowd began to disperse and Otabak picked a song with a more club-like beat. 

“Are you okay with this?” Yurio carefully asked, gesturing at the dispersing audience. “People are definitely going to post that online, your sister might see it.” Remembering the crazy call she’d received last time.

“Oh, I finally spoke to her.” Thalia explained, was this Yurio being concerned? “She wasn’t very happy but I told her I wanted to start skating again, even if it’s just for fun”

“And how did she take that?”

“Well she kinda sank into her mystery project with more energy, know what I mean? She was working on it when I left the hotel today, but I think it's a start.” Thalia concluded, smiling fondly as looked past Yurio to wave at a small group of men who were skating towards them. “Thanks.” she quietly added.

“For what?”

“It's thanks to you… guys… you guys! That I got the courage to tell my sister.” Thalia tried to shrug cooly. “See you face each obstacle head on inspired me to do that same.”

“What is  _ he _ doing here?!” Spat Yurio, jumping back like a frightened cat when he saw Chris, alongside Prichit, Victor and Yuuri, skating towards them.

“What kind of welcome is that, Yurio?” The Swiss man gasped, feigning an offended voice. 

“We all kind of stumbled upon each other at Hero's Square.” Yuuri tried to explain, Prichit had been trying to snap a selfie of the square and Chris had been wandering through the christmas market.

“That was quite the performance!” Jumped in Prichit, smiling excitedly. “Do you skate?”

“Oh yes, Yurio has got himself quite the fan.” Chris mused. “If I recall right, you and Yuri met in a similar manner?”

“Ah yes!” Victor feigned a surprised expression, continuing with Chris’s implication. “The heart is fickle, so easily stolen by a dance.” 

“Huh?” Yurio snarled as the group burst out into laughter. 

“C’mon guys!” Yelled Pitchit, “The party seems to have officially started!”

And he led the small group closer to the main group of people, spinning and wobbling in time to the music. 

“Thalia?” Victor called, causing her to stop and turn towards the older man who gracefully skated to a stop besides her. 

“Yeah?” She answered, adjusting her hat and scarf, her jacket was still unbuttoned but she wasn’t feeling very cold after her dance. 

“You really love skating.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement, he had seen her skate twice now, and both times there was no doubt that the girl was born to dance across the ice. “ And it would be my privilege if you would let me coach you.”

“WHAT? coach _ me _ ?” Thalia spluttered over the music. “That’s crazy, I just sort of started skating again, not professionally anyway, I’d just be wasting your time!”

“A coach wouldn’t waste his time asking if he didn’t see potential.” Victor observed wisely, remembering the day Yakov had scouted him. “You set your own limits when you were a child, based on a decision you made as a child. Don’t give me an answer just yet.” He quickly continued, interrupting her. “But if you’d like to set your sights on new heights, I’d like to help you get there.” And he winked before heading off to join Yuuri and the others, and leaving Thalia to mull over his words.


	15. Chasing Pavements

It had been a long while since any of the competitors had enjoyed themselves as thoroughly as they had the night before the Grand Prix final. They danced and laughed and goofed off as best they could, cheering on complete strangers as they tried to show off their moves, unbeknownst to them that there were globally recognised professional ice skaters in their midsts. However, they had to call it an early night, every one of them wanting to be in top form for tomorrow. 

The first day of the competitions had proven intense but relatively uneventful when compared to past competitions. The audience clapped and cheered at the appropriate moments. Thalia, this time, had found seats besides Mari Kasuki and Minako Okuwawa, both of which had flown from Japan to support Yuuri and the others in person. Nadia had chosen to bail, preferring to work with her online friends on her project then to come see the competitions they’d come all the way to Budapest for. Back at the Hot Springs Resort, a watch party had been set up with Yuuri’s parents, the Nishigori family and Minami leading the cheer. In Russia, Nikolai  Plisetsky i sat before his small television, Potya purring on his lap and a cup of warm coffee in his hands as he waited for his grandson to perform. 

The competitors were pulling out all the stops, Yurio had flown free with his ‘Defying Gravity’, raising his arms during the jumps to increase difficulty. Yuuri had impressed the audience with his emotional step sequences and the landing of all his jumps while Victor performed, successfully, all the quads allowed in the short programme. By the end of the day, the standing was as follows, with Yuuri in third, Yurio in second and Victor in first place. It seemed, so far, the predictions were coming true. 

But it wasn’t over yet, the competition had seen great upheavals in the past, with competitors close to last claiming the podium by the skin of their teeth. In the two days until the free skate the participants would barely rest, each one fine tuning the skills they believed they needed to win them the competition.

Unfortunately, one of these competitors would not be making it to the free skate that year.

Yurio had heard the knock on his hotel door in the early morning. He’d been long asleep and he was not responsible for his actions before the sun rose. You can imagine his surprise when he found Yakov there with unbelievable news. He’d almost rushed out of the hotel in his pyjamas but Lilia had ordered him to at least grab a jacket while Yakov continued to wake Yuuri and Victor. 

In less than 10 minutes the small group were in a taxi on the way to a nearby hospital. 

“Denis!” The small group marched into the startling white waiting area of the hospital's emergency wing. It was bare except from a few lines of empty chairs and a vending machine. The only man in the waiting room stood up the instant they walked in. A tall asian man with a soft face but slightly creased features. 

“I’m so sorry to have called you at this time.” Denis immediately apologised. 

“What happened?” Blurted out Yurio, patience wasn’t a virtue he possessed. 

“You must know Yakov,” began the coach apologetically, “I wouldn’t have called you here in this hour if it weren’t urgent but he insisted the moment he woke up…”

“He’s up?” Obvious relief in Yuuri's voice.

“What did the Doctors say?” Victor enquired gently. 

“Concussion and a dislocated shoulder.” The man tried to explain. “It's a miracle that's all he got.”

“But that means he won’t be able to participate in the free skate.” Yakov sighed, shaking his head solemnly.

“Can someone just tell me what happened?!” yelled Yurio, tired of being ignored and talked over.

“I don’t know the details, “ Denis seemed almost on the verge of tears, “The accident happened last night while on his way back to the hotel. He’s only just come too, he’s stable but he hasn’t said much. He just made me call you as soon as he came back to his senses.”

“Why he’d call us though…” Muttered Yakov as Denis, as quietly as he could, led them to the room his student was being hospitalised in. 

“Otabek!” Gasped Yurio, stunned at the sight before him- Otabek in an ugly hospital gown, on an uncomfortable metal bed a thick white blanket covering his banged up body. A drip was attached to his arm and he was leaning back into his pillow, his other arm strapped to his chest.

Otabek tired to nod his head in greeting but even the slightest motion caused his body to hurt and his head to spin. 

“Be careful,” Denis begged, “The doctors told you not to move. “

“But I have to tell them.” Otabek croaked, his voice hoarse and quiet.

“What happened to you, Otabek?” Victor gently asked, walking to stand beside his bed. 

“I was riding my motorcycle…” Otabak slowly began to explain, saying each word carefully. “S-someone, a-a girl walked off the pavement as I was about to p-pass. I-I tried to dodge her…”

“And you ended up falling instead.” Yuuri finished, understanding the gist of what happened. 

“That’s horrible.” Agreed Victor, “But why did you call us here? You need to rest…”

“T-the g-girl.” He coughed, his mouth felt so dry. “She walked out in fr-front of me on p-purpose.”

“On purpose?” Victor questioned, confused. 

“She wanted me to have the accident.” The Otabek mind still felt fuzzy but the more he spoke the clearer it felt. 

“That’s quite the accusation!” Declared Denis, frantically. “Why would you say that?”

“Because after the crash she told me something…” Otabek took a deep breath, remembering her words before he had lost consciousness. “Tell Yurio, N.E.K.O says hello...”

“What?” The whole room gasped, Yurio was speechless, unable to comprehend what his friend was saying.

“This was N.E.K.O’s doing?” Began Yuuri but Victor interrupted with another question.

“Do you remember what she looked like?”

Otabek wanted to nod his head but couldn’t. “She looked like... Thalia…” He stammered out.

“What!” Yurio gasped again, even louder than before. 

“That can’t be.” Yuuri was looking between Otabek and Victor.

“Are you sure?” Victor carefully asked, this didn’t sound like something Thalia would do.

“Yes,“ Otabek whispered. “H-her eyes, I saw her eyes… one green, one b-blue.”

You could hear a pin fall in the silence that followed but there could be no doubt it was here with eyes like that. 

* * *

There was a loud insistent knocking on the hotel door, accompanied by garbled voices. 

“GAH, must be people you know.” Complained Nadia, stuffing her head under her pillow as Thalia switched on the lampshade between them.

Thalia tried to blink away the sleep as she looked for her phone. It wasn’t where she’d usually leave it but, still drowsy from sleep, she didn’t really care as she checked the time. It was barely five in the morning. Her screen was also covered by a number of notifications from Victor and Yuuri. She tried to blink away the sleep, no use reading them now if they were the people at the door. She yawned to herself as she peeked through the peephole to see who was in the corridor. 

There was another agitated series of knocks and, having confirmed her visitors, Thalia opened the door, peeking her head around the door, she was in a fuzzy pink pyjama with the words “snooze you later” on her chest and she didn’t want anyone seeing her in those. 

“Yurio, is everything ok?” Was her greeting, it felt pointless asking if he knew what time it was, one look told her that he’d been up even earlier than her. 

“How could you do this!?” He yelled shoving the door open and causing her to stagger back in surprise. Nadia sat up in her bad, looking curiously at the confrontation unfolding before her.

“Yurio!” Victor yelled, grabbing his shoulder to try to calm the raging teenager as Yuuri entered the small hotel room, closing the door behind them, people were already peeking out of the neighbouring rooms trying to see what the commotion was about. “Calm down!”

“I’ll calm down when she answers me!” He growled, turning towards Thalia once again. She looked at him wide eyed, more out of surprise then fear. It was bizarre how much Yurio reminded her of a frightened, wounded cat, hissing to defend himself but unable to do much else. 

“What’s going on?” She tried to ask calmly, looking between the three men.

“There’s been an accident.” Yuuri began, “Otabek’s in the hospital.”

“Oh my god. “ She whispered, both hands rising to cover her face. “Is he going to be ok?”

“He is now.” Victor carefully explained, trying to read the girl's expression. “But he won’t be able to take part in the free skate.”

“That’s horrible!” Mumbled Thalia, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Bad luck for him.” Nadia piped in behind her sister, “But what does this have to do with Nathalia?”

“Nadia…” Thalia warned, not liking her sister's tone.

“Otabek claims that this wasn’t an accident, that it was N.E.K.O’s doing,” Carefully explained Victor, still trying to read the girl's expression. “And that you caused the accident.”

In that moment, it felt like all the blood in Thalia’s body had been replaced with ice.

“He recognised you because of your eyes.” Yuuri added as the girls face lost all colour, the weight of their accusation reflected in her widening eyes. 

“That can’t be.” She whispered. “You can ask Nadia, I had a headache after dinner yesterday, took some painkillers and just slept until you guys woke me up now.”

“Actually Thalia, you left the room once, remember?” Nadia piped in surprisingly cooly for being someone whose sister had just been accused of causing an accident. 

“What? I never left this room.” Thalia insisted.

“Yeah you did.” Slowly said Nadia, as if explaining to a toddler. “ You said you were heading outside for some fresh air, I was up working on my project, my teammates can vouch for me.” Nadia quickly added, pulling out her phone and searching for the chat history.

“Thalia, where did you go when you went out for air?” Victor prodded.

“I never left this room!” Thalia begged, looking between the three men and her sister, why would Nadia lie like that?

“If you don’t believe me you can ask the front desk receptionist.” Suggested Nadia, “He probably saw you if you left. Or just check that jogging app of yours, that keeps track of your location pretty well ....”

“What jogging app…” But Thalia's voice trailed off as she saw said app on her home screen. Thalia didn’t jog, never did and she was certain she had never downloaded that app but her gut told her that if she clicked on the app it would confirm their suspicions, that she was at the site of the accident at the time it had happened.

“I’ve got no explanation for this…” She whispered, handing her phone to Victor as solemnly the app confirmed all their fears.

“Thalia why would you do this?” Whispered Yuuri, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“I didn’t do this!” Thalia begged, but the evidence was overwhelming. “You guys know I wouldn’t do something like this? Right Yurio?”

“Nathalia Kane Osment.” He whispered her name like a curse. “I wouldn’t be surprised if your middle name was something like Elisabeth, your name fits N.E.K.O’s initials too well…”

“I’m not with N.E.K.O!” Thalia pleaded.

“But the timing fits!” Yurio yelled, gone was the anger from his voice, replaced with a strained pain none had ever heard before. “N.E.K.O showed up right before your visit to Japan! What was the point? To get close to us? Find out our weak spots? To get your face back in the public’s eye?”

Yurio wanted for someone to tell him he was wrong but ever since they’d met Thalia too many things had happened to the people he cared about, it was too much to be just a coincidence. 

“I would never do anything like that!” She pleaded, they knew her, Yurio knew her, she would never do anything like this!

“And I want to believe you!” He finally yelled, he wanted to believe her beyond words. “But everything,  _ everything _ points to you! 

“Yurio…” She whispered reaching out towards him but her hand stopped midway as he turned his back to her and walked past Yuuri and Victor towards the door. 

“I wish I’d never met you.” He whispered, the hotel room amplifying the youth’s stinging words. “Never come near any of us, ever again.” 

And he walked out not even sparing any of them a look back. 

“Police will be here any moment.” Victor calmly explained, he had always prided himself that he was a good judge of character, how had he been so wrong about Thalia?. “They’ll want to question you.”

“Hopefully this all resorts itself.” Yuuri tried to say before leaving, but there wasn’t much hope in his voice as he closed the door behind them, they could barely look at her as they left.

“Well there goes my day trip to Vienna.” Sighed Nadia, falling back onto her bed as her sister crumpled onto the soft carpet in a mess of tears. 


	16. Dirty Little Secret

“Is it weird that I still expect Otabek to walk in here at any moment?” Prichit wondered aloud, looking at the rink entrance, expectantly. 

“The doctors expect he’ll make a full recovery in no time.” Yuuri explained, it was the day of the free skate and news of Otabek’s accident had spread like wildfire, though the details were still being kept rather hush hush. “He’ll be in skating form in no time.”

“I still can’t believe they think Thalia did it.” Sighed Prichit. “She seemed like such a nice girl.”

“It is always the most beautiful rose that has the most painful thorns.” Chris said, dramatically. “How’s our fair Yurio taking all this?”

“You can see for yourself.” Victor said, nudging his chin in the youth’s general direction, he was sitting some distance away from Yakov and Lilia, his headphones over his ears, his hood up and a glare that made everyone walk a wide berth around him. “In less than an hour one friend was seriously hurt and the other is believed to be the cause.”

“And we were making so much progress.” Victor whispered so Yuuri only could hear him. “He was finally opening up but now, he’s locked himself up and thrown away the key.”

* * *

Thalia groaned as she dragged herself out of her unsettled sleep. She had been in police custody for 24 hours, being questioned countless times until they eventually released under the conclusion the evidence, thus far, was simply circumstantial and with no other witnesses then the testament of a concussed man, their case was still rather weak. Thalia’s parents were catching the first flight they could to Hungary, would she even be able to go back to Canada if there was an open case and she was the lone suspect? She’d collapsed into bed when she’d finally got back to the hotel, her sister wasn’t there and she hadn’t come back even after she’d cried herself to sleep to wake up with bloodshot eyes. Had Nadia really gone on the day trip to Vienna she had planned? She rubbed at her stinging eyes, her hand automatically searching for her phone when she remembered all her devices were in police custody as evidence. 

Thalia dragged herself out of bed and practically fell into her sister’s where her fancy laptop she’d brought purposely to work on her project was lying under her pillow. 

_ She won’t mind if I just check the time _ . Thalia thought to herself as she opened the sleek device. A white screen lit up and felt impressed at her sister’s high tech laptop as, instead of a password, it used face recognition to unlock. It seemed not even technology could tell them apart. 

She blinked as the screen momentarily flickered, worried she’d somehow broken the laptop before the loading sign appeared on the screen and the Laptop gave her a polite greeting.

_ “Welcome back N.E.K.O!” _

Thalia shook her head, she must have read that wrong but, before she could read it again, the desktop came into existence. Thalia confirmed the time, it was late morning, the free skate must have already started. 

Thalia hovered the mouse over the web browser.

_ Nadia wouldn’t mind if she checked the current standings, surely.  _ Thalia reasoned as she clicked on the browser which opened onto a dark chat box. 

_ This must be the team she spoke about last time _ . Thalia reasoned as she moved the mouse to open a new tab but her hand halted as her eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar name she’d heard many times at the police station. ‘Bothany Utca’- that was the name of the street where Otabek had had his accident. Curiosity getting the best of her, she skimmed through the conversation, she didn’t know the other correspondents, all of them seemed to be using their initials, but she faltered when she saw the name near her sister’s responses-N.E.K.O

Thalia shook her head, it had to be a coincidence but she continued to read, a chill spreading up her spine as Thalia finally discovered what this project Nadia spent so much time on was about. It was all there, how Nadia, on the day of the accident had given her stronger painkillers than usual and had taken her phone, installed the app and posed as Thalia when she purposely stepped off the pavement in front of Otabek. The more Thalia read, the more insane, yet calculated the group's ramblings sounded, Thalia feared that, if she continued to read into the conversation she’d eventually stumble upon the video of Victor’s father and all other horrendous things N.E.K.O had done over the months. 

The pieces of the puzzle Thalia had no idea she had been working on suddenly began to fit into place. How her sister had known of an app Thalia had never installed and how she’d so easily lied to throw her under the bus. Shaking her head in disbelief, Thalia took a few screenshots of the chat and sent them to her private-email, she’d have to confront Nadia on this, but she didn’t want the evidence to be deleted, that would be an easy enough feat for this group she feared. Just as she sent the email the laptop made a low beeping sound, feeling she’d been caught she quickly turned to the chat. 

A new message had been sent by her sister, most likely from her phone.

_ Made it to the rink. Plan a go. _

Thalia slammed the laptop shut and ran out of the hotel room, barely slipping on her runners as she ran at full speed to the ice rink. She didn’t know what Nadia had planned but it couldn't be anything good. 

* * *

“You left them speechless.” Smiled Victor as Yuuri skated towards him, skating into his finance’s arms. He’d done it; he'd landed every jump he’d had planned; he even managed Victor's quadruple flip. “With a performance like that the judges would be blind not to give you a place on the podium.”

“Maybe it was good enough to steal the gold from you.” Yuuri tried to joke but his performance had left him winded. 

“We’ll just have to wait and see, Yurio and I still have our free skates to go.” Laughed Victor, leading Yuuri towards the Kiss and Cry. But he faltered, looking over his shoulder as a group of the female skaters that cleared the rink after the performances entered the rink to do their job.

“What’s the matter, Vitya?” Yuuri cautiously asked, trying to catch Victor’s attention.

“Nothing…” Victor answered absentmindedly and continued to the Kiss and Cry. It must have been a trick of the light, Thalia would not show herself here after what happened.

* * *

Thalia charged to the participants entrance, with no idea how to get in. 

“Name?” The guard asked gruffly looking at his tablet.

“Erm…” Thalia faltered, she’d never asked for a pass and there was no chance, after what happened, that her name wouldn’t cause some red flags to rise with the guards but somehow her sister must have gotten in, and she had a bad feeling it was here.

“Nadia Kane Osmont.” She quickly lied, hoping against hope that this would work. 

With painfully slow motions the guard searched for her name, looking from the picture on his screen to her and nodding his head, although the eye colors were on the wrong side he took it as a mistake in the picture orientation and let her through. 

Thalia ran through the unfamiliar passageways, she had to find Yurio and the others, and warn them that her sister was up to something. Would they even believe her after what happened? She wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she’d allow her sister to hurt someone else. 

She rounded an empty corridor and almost crashed into the one person she didn't want to meet- her sister.

“Nathalia!” Nadia gasped, taking multiple surprised steps back. “What are you doing here?”

“Nadia Elisabeth Kane Osment.” Thalia shook her head in disbelief. “N.E.K.O- you're the one whose been doing all those ghastly things to Yurio and the others!”

“Wow sis.” Nadia folded her arms across her chest. “I never expected you to be the first to figure it out.”

“For an evil mastermind, you left some sloppy clues… but that’s besides the point!” Thalia yelled, till this very moment Thalia had tried denying it, hoping that, if maybe she confronted her, Nadia would deny it, prove to her that she wasn’t the monster her mind had built her up to be. But here she was, accused and, on top of not even denying it, there was a gleam in her mismatched eyes as if she were proud. Never had Thalia felt so disgusted at her own reflection. 

“The letter, the video, even the accident! That was all you, wasn’t it?

“I can’t take all the credit.” Nadia shrugged, “N.E.K.O may be my name but there was a whole group of people backing me. You, my lovely fangirling sister, were just taking me to where I could see our handy work first hand.”

“But Nadia, I can’t understand, why? Why would you do this to Yurio and Otabek and the rest?” Thalia pleaded, her sister had always been a little different since her accident, clingy and controlling maybe, but she’d never do something like this, would she?

“Because they wanted to take you away from me, idiot!” Nadia yelled, her cool composure shifting to one uncomfortably more manic. “We were always meant to be together! To suffer in the darkness together.”

“What…”

“My life went dark the day I was told I'd never be able to skate again, you joined me in that darkness, but that boy.” She spat, “He lit you a tiny little flame and like a dumb moth you followed it, without a second thought at the sister you left behind.”

“Who? I would have never left you behind.” Growled Thalia.

“That wretched Yurio! He stole you away, with his words and his dancing…”

“No, Nadia!” Thalia shrieked, “I pulled myself away, away from the darkness, away from the past, away from your suffocating hold!”

And at last, the words Thalia had always wanted to say, spilled out, her emotions bare before the person who had stopped her from living the life she wanted.

“I’m your sister, Nathalia!” Now both sisters were yelling. “He took you away from me, so now I’m taking everything away from him!”

Thalia shook her head, feeling the tears prickle her eyes, how could the sister she had loved all her life have turned into such a monster? But then her eyes widened when she saw what Nadia was wearing, it was the same blue dress the clean up skaters at the competitions wore.

“Nadia... what did you do?!” Thalia yelled, running to her sister and placing a shaking hand on each of her shoulders. “Nadia, what did you do?!”

Nadia gave her a lopsided smile as, from a little pocket in her dress she brought out something so clear, Thalia could barely see it in the passageway lights. “Something one of my guys came up with. Did you know that at the speed professional skaters move, even a tiny kink like this could cause a nasty little accident?”

“No!” Thalia’s eyes widened in realisation at what her sister was saying. There was a loud cheering as the presenter outside began to speak.

“He will be nothing once I take his skating away from him.”

_ No! _ Thalia thought, shoving her sister to the side, the mere sight of her made her nauseated, and she ran as fast as her legs would let her and she begged them to go faster, the presenter's voice becoming clearer, Yurio was already skating to the center of the rink.

“Stop!” But her voice cracked, reaching no one as she ran.

“Thalia!” It was Yuuri who saw her first. He and Victor had been standing beside the entrance after the Kiss and Cry, looking at the rink as Yurio prepared to perform. 

“Thalia?” Victor turned, surprised to see the girl after the argument she and Yurio had had the previous day, had he really seen her before?

She ran past them. “STOP!” She tried to yell, this time loud enough for the two men to hear her.

“What’s wro…” Began Victor reaching out to stop her but she twisted out of his reach, almost tripping over her own feet, shaking her head. she had to stop Yurio! She had to stop him before her sister’s plan succeeded, before his skating, and his new found freedom, was taken away from him.

“Thalia!” Yelled Yuuri, as she ducked out of Yakov’s surprised reach as she stepped onto the ice in her sneakers. 

There was an instant uproar from the crowd as she slipped across the rink’s surface, her momentum increasing, her arms swinging and unable to stop. But she didn’t care, she had to reach Yurio before it was too late.

“T-THALIA?” Yurio stammered as he saw her barrelling towards her.

“Stop!” She yelled, unfortunately, she couldn't stop herself, crashing into Yurio who had been carefully balancing on his skates to start his free skate, the two tumbling and slipping onto the ice’s surface with a rather indecent “whoop”.

“Thalia! What are you doing!?” Yelled Yurio furiously, as he sat up to look at the girl. But his anger dissipated as he saw the girl's flushed face, her breath was heaving, her hand on her rapidly rising and falling chest. She had collapsed on her knees and looked like she was desperately trying to tell him something but she couldn’t catch her breath.

“Yurio!” Victor and Yuuri accompanied by a pair of guards skated onto the rink. The audience were in an agitated uproar, peering their heads down at the rink to see what was going on as the presenter apologised for the unforeseen interruption. As the cameras zoomed in on the scene, showing without mistake who had interrupted the finals, the name Nathalia Kane began to ecchoe across the crowd.

“S-stop.” Thalia tried to say, her eyes pleading with the youth, begging him to listen.

“Wait! Give her a second.” Ordered Victor as Yuuri knelt down beside the girl, she just couldn’t catch her breath, but the look on her face as she’d run past them to brave the ice had told them there was something dangerously wrong. 

“Thalia…” Began Yuuri, putting a calming hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, worried they were going to take her away before she could warn Yurio.

“Nadia… N.E.K.O.” She tried to say. “Nadia is N.E.K.O!” She finally blurted out, stunning the three men

“Nadia? your sister Nadia? is N.E.K.O?” Yuuri looked up at Victor.

“Lock down the stadium.” Quickly declared Victor, as finally all the pieces began to make sense, that had not been Thalia he’d seen before. “You have to find Nadia Kane Osment.”

The guards sent out the commend through their walkie talkies without question, they had been briefed of the danger that was N.E.K.O, they would not take her lightly.

“S-s-she did something to the rink, to make Yurio fall during his-his routine.” She stammered as she tried to explain herself. If possible Yurio’s eyes widened even further, had she done all that, charged across the ice to stop him from getting hurt? Even after all those cruel things he had told her?

“Don’t worry, Thalia,” Yuuri said in a soothing voice, this time she didn’t shrug off his hand, “It’s going to be alright now, Yurio’s going to be ok now.”

Thalia raised her head to look at Yurio, as if to confirm that he was really ok before her face fell into her palms with loud wretched sobs. 

“I’m so so sorry!” She weeped, the tears dripping on the ice. It was all her fault, everything that had happened to Yurio and Victor and Yuuri. They’d be better off is they’d never met her, she’d only caused them trouble and pain. 

There was silence from the audience as the presenter finally explained what had happened, as a commotion of guards somewhere in the stadium cornered Nadia at an exit that had refused to open. 

But in the Stadium all eyes were still on the weeping girl. She wanted to apologise again, but she couldn’t through her tears, she wanted to beg for forgiveness but the words just wouldn’t come. 

Yurio looked at Thalia’s quivering body, his mind a jumbled mess as it tried to keep up with what had just happened, his emotions wrestling at which to feel. Was it anger? Disappointment? Outrage?

“I’m sorry.” She managed to splutter into her hands once more, as he adjusted his position on the ice so he was kneeling across from her and he did the only thing that kept echoing in his mind, without hesitation he reached out his hands and pulled Thalia towards him, pressing her shocked, yet still crying face to his chest, his arms going around her back in an embrace that stunned the world, for everyone knew Yurio was not a hugger. 

“It's not your fault.” He whispered into her ear, causing a fresh eruption of tears from the girl. As this happened he recognized the emotion that had swelled up within him, relief - relief at knowing that Thalia had not been the person he had accused her of being, but would she ever be able to forgive him for what he said? 

Gingerly Yuuri stood, trying not to disturb the youths as he and Victor exchanged a look only they knew the meaning of.

* * *

These championships were ones to make the books for a number of reasons. Following the disruption and chaos of N.E.K.O the rink had been carefully checked and smoothed using a ice resurfacer, Yurio reentered the rink to give a performance for his free skate which left everyone watching speechless, not a single jump was missed and with at least one arm raised for each the difficulty of them was unquestionable. But never, in the history of the championships had three podium winners overlap each other simply by a few decimal points difference as they had that day. Much to his amusement, Victor Nikiforov came third, claiming his first bronze ever in his career. 

_ Not bad for a man who had spent a year out! _ He had laughed, with a total score of 319.99. In second place, having recovered his usual demeanor following that day's events, and openly annoyed at being degraded to second place, with 320.02 points was Yuri Plisetsky. That left the gold to be taken by Yuuri Katsuki with a total of 320.03 points. The differences in their points were abysmal, but Yuuri stood tall as the cameras flashed and the gold medal was carefully placed around his neck. 

Yuuri's feet had barely left the podium, still unable to believe he had finally won, when Victor blocked his path. 

“I believe you promised to kiss this?” Yuuri said, lifting the medal from around his neck and presenting it to his coach. With the medal still cupped in Yuuri’s hand Victor leaned in to kiss it softly.

“And I believe you promised me a wedding?” He whispered as he leaned past the medal to passionately kiss his fiance, the whole audience roaring with cheer.

Thalia watched this all from the guest section, some distance away from Lilia and Yakov. Why they had allowed her to stay, after everything she and her sister had caused, she didn’t know but as all were distracted by Yuuri and Victor’s kiss Thalia stood to try sneak away. 

“Where do you think you are going?” A cool, accented voice washed over her through the roaring crowds. 

Thalia turned to see Yurio walking towards her, the silver medal gleaming against his costume.”Congratulations on coming second!” She sheepishly said

Yurio made a disapproving sound, “I look better in gold.” But he looked up at her again, “You still haven’t told me where you are going.”

“I thought I'd leave before I caused you and the others any more trouble.” The girl admitted. She couldn’t look Yurio in the eyes.

“But didn’t Victor offer to coach you?” Yurio enquired, taking a confident step forward.

“I highly doubt that offer still stands.” She scoffed

“Victor may be forgetful but he never goes back on his word.” Explained Yurio. “And he’s not one to take ‘no’ lightly.”

Thalia finally looked up, and in those few seconds of conversation Yurio had covered the distance between them.

“I am also looking for an exhibition partner, with Otabek still in the hospital.” He shrugged as if the offer he had just presented to her was nothing but a suggestion of a soda brand he preferred. 

“No, I can’t…” Thalia took a step away from him but Yurio reached and grabbed her hand, stopping her from fleeing any further.

“Thalia, you’ve finally gotten your freedom, Victor and the rest, we are offering you the key to your little cage, don’t you think it's about time you open it?”

Thalia looked up at Yurio, smiling, “I don’t know what I was thinking when I used that metaphor back in Japan.”

Yurio just shrugged. “Still seems appropriate, given what happened.”


	17. Epilogue: Now We Are Free

“I did not donate half my genes to you for you not to want to ice skate!” Yuuko practically shrieked, her voice echoing around the ice rink causing her three teenage daughters to roll their eyes as they handed a customer their required skates with a smile.

“No.” Said the five year old, crossing her hands and looking away from the frilly pink leotard Yuuko had just presented her with. She was what you'd expect a cute half-Russian half-Japanese 5 year to be- adorable. With a large round face and equally as large chestnut eyes. Here long silver hair was pulled into two buns on her head.

“Now Yuuko, you can’t dangle that over a five year old.” Laughed Yuuri as he knelt beside his daughter. “Why don’t you want to skate Anya, you were having so much fun yesterday?”

At first Anya chose to ignore her father but a gentle poke in her belly caused her to erupt into laughter.

“Because it's so girly!” She blurted out mid giggle.

“You probably just offended half the men I know.” Sighed Yuuko, massaging her brow. “Or complimented.”

“So what is it you want to be?” Yuuri, asked, half laughing at the child's comment.

She put her hand to her chin, as if giving it serious thought.

“A knight!” She said, gleefully.

“A knight? Really?”

“Yes daddy, like Merida in that cartoon we saw yesterday!” She said excitedly.

“Oh! So you're going to use a bow and arrow and defeat the big bad bear?” Yuuri laughed, grabbing his daughter carefully around her waist and practically swinging her over his head, causing the girl to laugh as she dangled her legs in the air before Yuuri carefully put her on his shoulder.

“Of course! She wants to be a knight! Why doesn't she slay some dragons while she’s at it?” Pouted Yuuko turning her back on the two and marching back to the reception desk, grumbling to herself as she did so and causing both Anya and Yuuri to laugh.

“Oh? I think we missed something funny, Yuki.” A familiar voice washed over the laughing duo.

“Papa!” Squealed Anya, almost falling off her father's shoulders as the two turned to see Victor entering the Ice Palace. His silver hair had grown out and was pulled back in a little pony tail. He smiled fondly at his family as he adjusted the three year old that he had cradled in his arms, the boy's chubby hands clasping his father’s neck as he looked at Yuuri with large dark brown hair. Yuuri took a step towards his husband, a gentle hand ruffling Yuki's mess of reddish hair as he leaned in to kiss Victor.

“Are you going to tell me what was so funny?” Victor asked, his eyes gleaming as he smiled into the kiss. 

“That’s a secret between Anya and I, right?” Yuuri said, lowering the girl to the ground.

“I’m going to slay some dragons!” She beamed up at Victor.

“I’m not sure about dragons but I’ve got a pouty cat with me if you want to start with that?” Victor raised a curious eyebrow at Yuuri who just shrugged as he took Yuki out of Victor’s hands and lowered the boy carefully to the ground beside his sister.

“I heard that!” A voice growled from behind Victor.

“Uncle Yurio!” Squealed Anya, charging at the couple that had entered the Ice Palace behind Victor.

“Happy anniversary!” Thalia said as a greeting, beaming broadly at Yuuri.

“Yurio! Thalia! Welcome back.” Smiled back Yuuri, “How was Sicily?”

“Hot.” Grumbled Yurio as Anya clasped his knees making it hard for Yurio to escape.

“Lovely.” Corrected Thalia, nudging Yurio playfully. 

“Another championship title for the both of you.” Pointed out Victor, draping his arm around Yuuri. “What number does that make?”

“Every year since you idiots retired after Budapest- 6, I've finally beat your record, Victor.” proudly said Yurio, causing Thalia to roll her eyes besides him as she knelt down to pick up Yuki who had slowly waddled his way towards her.Thalia had become a 4 time gold medalist since Budapest but she didn’t feel the need to boast as much Yurio. 

“As both your coaches I couldn’t be prouder.” Smiled Victor, but his tone switched to one a little more mischievous “Through the exhibition you two did back in Sicily, looked almost like a proposal to me.”

Yurio shuddered and Thalia made a fake gagging sound.

“You  _ have _ been dating for quite some time.” Added Yuuri.

“We never officially started, everyone just stuck us together after Budapest and you never let us say otherwise.” Complained Thalia.

“And we can barely stand each other as is.” Added Yurio, “Thalia snores like a pig.”

“Well you drool!” Countered Thalia.

“Oh my!” Gasped Victor sarcastically exchanging a look with Yuuri as if they had just learnt something they shouldn’t.

“He fell asleep during the flight, you perverts!” Thalia yelled, realising where their dirty minds had run off to.

Yurio grumbled something about them not being worth arguing with, pushing his hands into his pocket as he dragged Anya towards her father, the girl had decided to clamp herself to one of Yurio's legs and was refusing to let go.

“We’d kill each other before the wedding even got planned.” Laughed Thalia but, even as she said this she quickly pulled the little diamond ring she had hung on a chain around her neck out of Yuki’s chubby grip and quickly hid it under her shirt. She’d tell them later, she thought as she looked at the three men who had changed her life in so many different yet better ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it. Feel free to drop a comment, I always love to hear from you and stay safe :)


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